


Golden Week

by Okikage



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beach Volleyball, Childhood Trauma, Eldritch, Established Relationship, F/F, Golden Week, Hikari likes Miyako, Jogress Bonds are Weird, Love Triangles, M/M, Massage, Miyako is Oblivious and ships Hikari/Takeru, Nightmares, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Pregnancy Gore, Psychological Horror, Reality Bending, Tentacle Rape, Transformation, Vacation, comfort/hurt, relationship drama, yes I tagged this COMFORT/HURT because the first few chapters are fluffy and then The Warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:47:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23342689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okikage/pseuds/Okikage
Summary: All 12 of the Tokyo Chosen decide to go on a beach trip together, some more reluctant about the "together" part than others. Relationship drama is at the forefront of everyone's minds as they have fun in the Okinawan sun during the younger Chosen's last Golden Week in college. But things go awry.Because the Dark Ocean doesn't forget.You can try to run away, you can surround yourself with better, brighter people, but the Ocean is still there.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya, Inoue Miyako | Yolei Inoue/Yagami Hikari | Kari Kamiya
Comments: 82
Kudos: 64
Collections: Daiken Discord Server





	1. Showa Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I'm most of the way through a second chapter of this, so I thought I might be safe trying to start posting.  
> I'm bad at finishing long fics tho, so I hope I can keep the momentum.  
> This first chapter is mostly just setting up and fluff, but, I hope you can see how it'll get dark. Because it will. I've got it all in my horrible, horrible notes here.  
> Also it's 2012, or at least trying to be.

“Yeah! Sounds great! See you tomorrow at the airport!” Daisuke boisterously shouted at his cell phone before ending the call, his face falling immediately.

“Bad news?” Ken asked from his seat at their small kitchen table, sipping a cup of tea.

“It’s officially a full Chosen trip.” Daisuke took his own seat opposite Ken. “Mimi and Koushiro invited Sora and Jou.”

Ken swirled his teacup, watching the grains of matcha at the bottom as they turned and settled once again. “I suppose it was a little weird they were the only ones  _ not _ coming.”

“Ken. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Daisuke stared at his boyfriend, who certainly didn’t look that upset. He tried not to get distracted by the stray strand of hair falling from Ken’s part almost into his eye. “You’re allowed to be not fine.”

“I appreciate you checking in, but really, I don’t mind. It might even be nice to have everyone along.”

“But this was supposed to be  _ our _ special romantic vacation!” Daisuke smacked his hands on the table, causing it to wobble slightly.

Ken quirked an eyebrow. “Are  _ you _ not fine?”

“...Maybe a little. I’ve been planning this for  _ months _ so we could actually get in during Golden Week, and now it’s ballooned to  _ double _ just because Mimi can do that kind of thing?” Daisuke pulled his chair around the table and next to Ken’s, flopping beside him.

“It will still be a very romantic trip for us.” Ken kissed Daisuke’s temple, remaining leaning down to hover near his face. 

Now that he was so close, Daisuke could no long resist smoothing the errant hair back into Ken’s soft locks, running his fingers through it all the way to the ends. “I was looking forward to having you all to myself.”

Ken smiled one of his perfect little quirks just at the side of his lips and kissed Daisuke, a gentle pressure that Daisuke opened his mouth to. Ken had gotten much more proactive over the years, he used to kiss so tentatively Daisuke stopped more than once in the middle because it seemed like he wasn’t enjoying it. Not so now, with Ken’s tongue pressing against his, the guttural moans coming from the back of his throat.

They ended up on the floor next to their vacated kitchen chairs, Daisuke having unbuttoned the top of Ken’s dress shirt to expose more of his neck to nibble.

“Daisuke,” Ken’s voice was breathy and gorgeous. “Daisuke.” His hand was massaging Daisuke’s scalp. “Daisuke, I’m going to be late to class.”

Daisuke reluctantly pulled away from Ken, who smoothed his clothes out and stood, somehow not looking like he was just frantically making out. Daisuke had no idea  _ how _ Ken did that. He gave him one last peck on the lips before grabbing his school bag and heading out to the Hongo Campus.

Daisuke had to get ready for his own last day of work before their trip, anyway.

He thought all the way there about how he ended up in this mess.

* * *

“Miyako! I need your help with something.”

“Huh?” Miyako looked up from her desk in Izumi Headquarters, her neighbors on either side stealing glances before returning to their own work. “What are you doing here, Daisuke?”

“You’ve been to Okinawa, right? With your family?”

“Yeah, we went on a family trip to celebrate the expansion of Ai Mart. Why?”

“I could use some...recommendations.” Daisuke leaned in and whispered conspiratorially.

Miyako tapped her fingers together excitedly. “Ooh, planning a trip?”

“Ken and I wanted to go together next Golden Week.”

If possible, Miyako looked even more excited. “A  _ romantic _ trip!” Everyone within 5 feet of her desk shot her a glare and she coughed, blushing. “That’s really nice.”

“So will you help me out?”

“Of course I will! I’m the romance queen after all.” Miyako puffed up her chest, looking like her younger self again. “But you have to do  _ me _ a favor.”

Daisuke’s stomach dropped. Favors for Miyako were always painful. “What do you want?”

“All six of our group get to go. We’ll get you and Ken your own room, of course, but have you seen how Hikari and Takeru look at each other? They need a push and a trip like this is perfect!”

Daisuke’s face went pale. “I was kinda hoping the whole trip would be just Ken and me...”

“This is my payment for helping with planning. It’s totally reasonable I get to enjoy a trip  _ I _ planned, isn’t it?” Miyako smirked, looking more like a shark than anything.

If he didn’t say yes, Miyako would just ask Ken, and he would  _ definitely _ say yes because Ken was possibly literally incapable of saying no to people. “Ugh, fine, but you better pull your weight!”

“Oh don’t worry about that. I’m going to plan the most romantic trip ever! Hikari is  _ going _ to get her man.”

Daisuke rolled his eyes dramatically at Miyako’s antics. Just because she helped him and Ken get together, she’d decided she was the arbiter of Romance in their Chosen friend group. Hikari and Takeru were  _ not _ going to become a couple, but she wouldn’t drop it.

Much later, He received a phone call from Taichi.

“Hey, Daisuke!” Taichi’s cheery voice rang over his phone.

“What’s up, Taichi-senpai?”

“I heard about the trip you’re planning, but why didn’t you invite all of us?”

Daisuke almost dropped the phone. “Well, it’s really just us younger kids, and anyway it’s kind of a big group with everyone isn’t it?”

“Nonsense! Yamato and I were thinking of going out of town anyway, we can join you for a bit of it. Oh, and Koushiro and Mimi, of course!”

Daisuke sighed. Was everyone going to shoehorn their own relationships into  _ his _ trip for Ken? “Are you sure? You don’t want to do something more secluded, just the two of you?”

“You bet we will when we’re there! But we can also go on a Jogress partner double date,” Taichi teased.

“Sounds like fun!” Daisuke replied. Shortly after, he hung up and screamed so loud in frustration the neighbors complained.

* * *

By the time Ken got home from his last class, Daisuke had already heated the last of their leftovers and cleaned out the fridge of perishables, creating a bizarre hodgepodge of a dinner. Wormmon was tucked into his usual spot in the front of Ken’s zip-up, and was already asleep, Ken looking not far off himself. He looked at Daisuke with lidded eyes and a serene smile, and Daisuke melted.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Ken carefully unzipped his jacket and scooped Wormmon into his arms, laying him in the repurposed dog bed they had gotten for the Digimon to have some place to sleep other than Ken and Daisuke’s bed.

“I made dinner. Well, ‘made’ is a strong word I guess.”

“You’re too good to me.”

They ate the last of the ramen ingredients Daisuke was trying to get rid of, creating a fairly egg-heavy bowl. Ken claimed it was utterly delicious anyway, caressing Daisuke’s hand on the tabletop. While they were cleaning up, however, Daisuke noticed Ken’s tense hands, small hisses of pain while they put away the cleaned and dried dishes. He hadn’t gotten any spikes of emotion today, but...

“Okay.” Daisuke leaned against the kitchen doorway just as Ken was putting the last plate away. “What’s up with you?”

Ken looked surprised. “Nothing?”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s just a little twinge in my neck, no big deal.” Ken averted his eyes, staring at the tiled floor.

“You being in pain is a big deal to me, Ken.” Daisuke stepped forward, holding Ken’s hands. “You pull a muscle during your jog today or something?”

“No, it’s just been...stress i think? I really need this vacation.” Ken squeezed Daisuke’s hands back.

“Want me to give you a massage?”

Ken’s eyes lit up. “Yes.”

Daisuke led Ken by their interlocked hands to their bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as he kissed Ken, on the mouth, cheek, down his jawline. Ken followed Daisuke’s movements, letting himself be laid facedown, hugging a pillow to his chest. Daisuke straddled his hips, firmly grasping Ken’s shoulders and squeezing down.

“Ooh, that’s nice,” Ken murmured, relaxing into Daisuke’s strokes, beginning right near his neck and moving to the top of his shoulders.

Daisuke laid his palms flat to rub circles with his fingertips along the same shoulder path. “Is it helping?”

“Very much.”

Daisuke watched as Ken’s eyes closed, felt the knotted and tense muscles all under his shoulderblades. Ken really  _ was _ stressing. “School been hard this last year?”

“Not really, it’s pretty much smooth sailing from here. Ah! Do that again.” Ken jolted as Daisuke hit a particularly deep knot, and Daisuke focused intently on working it out, his hands kneading Ken roughly.

After working the knots as best he could out of Ken’s shoulders, Daisuke cupped his hands around his upper neck extremely carefully. “Okay?”

Ken stiffened. His neck was normally pretty off-limits, and Daisuke prepared to immediately snatch his hands away. “Yes.” It took Daisuke a few seconds to adjust to the fact that Ken was actually letting him rub right where the dark seed was, before proceeding with the gentlest pressure possible.

Ken relaxed at the pace of a glacier, physically being helped by Daisuke’s kneading hands but obviously struggling with the mental side, his brow furrowed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. Don’t stop.”

Daisuke continued the light pressure along Ken’s neck, trying not to call attention to any particular spot.

To his surprise, Ken huffed, “I won’t  _ break _ if you do more, Daisuke. I can barely feel it.”

Daisuke obliged, increasing the pressure and working out some more kinks he could feel in the muscles. Ken moaned in pleasure and satisfaction.

“Any idea what’s stressing you out so much?” Daisuke idly asked as he worked into a particular spot on the left side of Ken’s neck.

Ken didn’t answer for a few seconds, seemingly just reveling in Daisuke’s touch. Then he only replied one word. “Nightmares.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah,” was all Ken said as he became putty in Daisuke’s hands.

When Ken was completely relaxed, his neck and shoulders thoroughly worked over, Daisuke flopped down next to him and spooned close.

Ken covered the hand Daisuke had wrapped around his waist. “They’ve been really bad lately. Some of the worst I've had in years. I don’t know why.”

“I’ll always be here to protect you from them.” Daisuke squeezed around Ken’s middle, willing his presence to help stave off the nightly fight Ken seemed to have with his own mind.

* * *

Unfortunately, Ken dreamt that night. He dreamt about laying on a freezing, white beach, coarse sand cutting into his skin. He dreamt about a wave crashing over him and pulling him across the bottom, scoring deep rivets into his back. He dreamt about flecks of particulate burrowing into his body.

He woke up in a cold sweat, and buried his face in Daisuke’s warm chest, feeling his heartbeat pulsing just under the surface, and tried very hard to breathe.


	2. Tourist Traps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of the Okinawan Trip arrives, and the 02 Chosen go shopping and to a garden. The weather is funny, though, and only Ken and Hikari seem to feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is still just like, really fluffy. Also the secondary ship Begins.

Ken tucked himself away in the corner of an incredibly crowded Haneda Airport, doing his best to get through some breathing exercises. Wormmon was a comforting presence glued to his side, nuzzling him in their own attempts to help.

His eyes were closed, and despite his best efforts his breath was shallow and weak and he could _feel_ everyone staring at the weirdo on the floor trying not to have a panic attack. Daisuke was on the edge of his awareness, his calming presence on the other side of the waiting room having been roped into window shopping with Mimi and Miyako.

“What’s up, Ichijouji-kun?” Takeru broke through, sliding down the wall next to him.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, Hikari-chan has trouble with Nothing a lot too. Taichi commandeered a couple chairs two gates down from ours if you want? A lot less people there.”

Ken cracked his eyes open, sneaking a glance at Takeru. He looked completely at ease, wearing a lovely dark hat that made his blonde hair pop. Ken tried, of course, he tried with all the Chosen, but Takeru was really intimidating. He also brushed off any and every attempt Ken made to _talk_ about that one time Takeru justifiably punched him in the face, and Ken was both extremely grateful for that and desperately wanted to clean out the wound. “Okay, let’s go.”

Being around the other Chosen _was_ much more pleasant, if louder, and Ken relaxed even more once Daisuke returned and slotted himself right next to Ken, resting his head on Ken’s shoulder.

“I made this detailed itinerary, though!” Miyako pulled her phone out and scrolled through a _very long_ document.

“Man, that is _such_ a Jou move, you gotta go with the flow.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I didn’t plan _anything_ for this trip and am now having severe anxiety about it!”

“I brought our communicators so we can keep in touch no matter what.”

“ _Koushiro_ I can’t _believe_ you brought _work_ on vacation!”

“It's not like a Digimon is going to appear, it’s been months.”

He let the conversation wash over him, not adding his own to the din of too many overlapping voices. He focused on Daisuke, his calm, steady heartbeat even in the chaos all around them, an anchor for him to hold onto.

The flight was uneventful, but Ken didn’t dare try to sleep. He watched as Daisuke snoozed next to him. He snored softly, his head slipping down to Ken’s chest, right over his heart, and unconsciously snuggled him. Ken threaded his fingers through Daisuke’s coarse, spiked hair, loving the feeling of Daisuke acting as basically a living blanket.

Ken stayed in the back as they rented their two cars, not having a driver’s license himself. He was joined by Hikari and Iori, who was his usual awkward self standing slightly too far away from them, whispering quietly with armadimon and the other Digimon.

“I’m really excited about the itinerary!” Hikari stared off into the middle distance. “I haven’t been to a proper beach since big brother and I visited our grandparents.”

“I’ve actually...never been to the beach,” Ken’s words hung in the air, held by invisible tension between himself and Hikari. She turned her too-kind eyes towards him, taking one hand.

“It’ll be fine.” Hikari squeezed his hand briefly and let go, giving him space.

“You sound very sure of that.”

“I am. You have Daisuke.” Hikari nodded with conviction, like that settled the matter.

Hotel check-in wouldn’t be available for a few hours, so the group split to explore the island. Taichi and Yamato strongarmed the older six into driving down to check out Toyosaki Seaside Park, leaving the younger to get roped into shopping by Miyako and Hikari.

“I heard the side streets are where the deals are, is that true, Miyako-san?” Hikari walked beside Miyako, so slightly inclined towards her that Ken was sure only he and Iori noticed.

“Yep! I got some really cool stuff back in high school, I hope the shops are still around!” Miyako veered them into an alleyway, in contrast to the mostly much wider boulevards they had driven around on to get into the city. Well, Miyako had driven on, slightly recklessly.

Ken held Daisuke’s hand, warm and calloused from his ramen cook work, barely taking in the incessant touristy signage.

“Woah! Check that out, Ken!” Daisuke ran off, gesticulating wildly towards a large shark sculpture within one of the tourist souvenir shops. Ken smiled indulgently and waved him inside.

“He still acts like that?” Iori suddenly appeared next to Ken and he jumped out of his skin.

“Iori-kun! I thought you were with Takeru-kun?”

“Miyako-san told me to ‘get lost’.” Iori mimed air quotes around the last words.

Ken frowned. That wasn’t like her. At least, not to Iori. “Where is she?”

“That way. I’m gonna make sure Daisuke doesn’t do something stupid.”

“Don’t ruin _all_ his fun,” Ken tried to joke, but Iori didn’t laugh, just giving him a brief stern stare before heading into the open building.

Ken found Miyako hanging off Hikari and Takeru, animatedly maneuvering them to various souvenirs and snacks. She held her hand on Hikari’s back a lot longer than Takeru’s, but that might have just been because she shifted to Hikari’s left side to push her in Takeru’s direction.

“Anything interesting here?” He took Takeru’s open right side.

“You remember these cookies, Ken-kun? They’re the same ones Miyako-chan brought back! I loved them.” Hikari snuck a glance up at Miyako.

“They _were_ delicious.”

Hikari wanted to get them for her omiyage, but didn’t make the purchase just yet since Miyako assured her they were everywhere. Takeru bought a hat that caught his eye, showing it off and letting Patamon take and wear the one he brought. Miyako clapped particularly exuberantly.

Did Miyako like...Takeru?

“Where’s your better half, Ichijouji-kun?” Takeru tipped his hat towards Ken.

“Daisuke got sucked into a tourist trap on the main avenue.” 

“We should probably rescue him and get some lunch, that sound good?” Miyako was already heading back toward the alleyway exit.

“Miyako-san, wait! Could I...have a word with you?” Ken held out his hand, almost grabbing Miyako’s elbow but freezing up before finishing the move.

“Huh? Sure thing, Ken-kun. We’ll catch up with you two!” Miyako waved Hikari and Takeru away. When they turned away, she continued, “What’s on your mind?”

“Miyako...do you...you don’t have to be rude to Iori-kun.”

Miyako blinked. “Huh?”

“I just think - there’s better ways to try and be alone with someone.”

“What are you _talking_ about?” Miyako laughed nervously.

Ken took a calming breath. Okay, he could do this. He thought about what Daisuke would do, called on the thread that tied them together at his core. “If you want to be alone with Takeru-kun, we can help you out. You don’t have to just shoo Iori-kun away. I owe you one, anyway.”

To his surprise, Miyako burst into sharp laughter. “Me? Want to be with - _Takeru_?”

Blood rushed to Ken’s face. “That’s not -?”

“ _God_ , no. Honestly, Ken-kun, it’s no wonder you didn’t get Daisuke’s 80 million signals throughout high school.”

He had to get off this topic right now. “So why did you...?”

“ _I_ don’t want to be with Takeru, but I’m helping Hikari-chan with that.” Miyako smiled with all teeth, looking a bit manic.

That didn’t compute. “But I thought Hikari-san doesn’t like Takeru-kun like that.”

“Oh come on! It’s _so_ obvious they’re perfect together! Why does no one see this but me?”

“Did she ask for your help? Like I did?”

Miyako shifted into a serious look. “No. But she’s gotta like him!”

Ken knew Hikari didn’t. But that was a big breach of confidentiality and he would never do that to her. “Miyako-san...I think maybe you should stick to people who’ve asked for your help.”

“No. Hikari and Takeru absolutely _have_ to get together. They _have_ to.”

He dropped the subject, letting Miyako huff off back to the shop Daisuke was apparently still perusing. It was quite large, after all, but nothing really stood out to Ken. Just a bunch of flashy junk.

He was distracted anyway. This Miyako/Hikari/Takeru situation was going to blow up and he just hoped it didn’t this week. He’d promised Hikari he wouldn’t tell anyone her feelings. There was no way of telling whether she would ever act on them.

* * *

“Ken-kun,” Hikari’s voice was barely loud enough for Ken to pick up as they sat on the park bench that had become their de facto meeting place for their weekly jogs together.

“Yes, Hikari-chan?” Ken paused in cracking open his water bottle.

“Can you tell me...what your Jogress bond with Daisuke feels like?”

Ken considered. He tried to form a coherent explanation for how Daisuke had slowly become a part of him, how hearing heartbeats had grown into a connection that meant Ken always knew where Daisuke was, could pick up big mountains and valleys of emotion, was never far from his sunny warmth.

“It’s like...a red string that emotions can run on.”

Hikari didn’t look up from her thousand yard stare. “A red string...do you think all Jogress bonds can grow into what you have?”

“I have...no idea. I don’t think Taichi-senpai and Yamato-senpai feel things?”

“They do. Not as much as you and Daisuke-kun. But he’s mentioned it, once or twice.”

Ken fidgeted, taking a swig of his water. “Why do you ask?”

“I think...I have feelings for Miyako-san.”

* * *

The six of them found a place that could fit them not far from the shops, piling into a booth and only being slightly uncomfortably squished. Hikari was smashed between Miyako and Takeru, while Iori awkwardly hovered nearly out of the booth as far away as possible from where Ken and Daisuke plastered themselves in the corner.

“Man, I’ve been _dying_ to try some Okinawan soba!” Daisuke slid an arm over Ken’s shoulders, somehow pulling him even closer. Ken let himself melt into the embrace.

“Really, Daisuke-kun? No ramen today?” Takeru needled.

“I do eat other foods. Unlike some people who have the same hat in like three colors.”

Takeru adjusted his new hat, smirking. “Ah, so you noticed it?”

“I was thinking of getting some goya champuru,” Hikari chimed in, cutting off whatever jab Daisuke was going to throw out next.

“Yeah! That was really good. Not bitter at all, really,” Miyako said.

They ordered extras of each type of dish to surreptitiously push under the table where their Digimon hid, brazenly ignoring the judgmental looks from their server. Ken began to dig into his plate of champuru, the bitter melon just as Miyako said - perfectly offset by the flavoring and bits of tofu and pork mixed together with it.

Despite not giving outward signs, he felt Daisuke perk up next to him. “Wow, it’s _that_ good? Can I try?”

Ken blushed and let Daisuke pick a piece from his plate. Daisuke must have already been paying attention because he refused to accept that _food_ set off their bond that intensely.

At least not food made by someone other than Daisuke.

“Try some of the soba, it’s incredible!” Daisuke thrust his bowl in Ken’s face and he took a bite. He had expected the rough, buckwheat flavor of Tokyo but these were completely different, large and chewy.

“What _is_ that? they taste more like udon than soba.”

“Cause they are. It’s not even buckwheat!” Daisuke picked up a few strands with his chopsticks and slurped them up before continuing. “Really tasty, though.”

Takeru laughed and interrupted them. “That is _so_ freaky, you know right? The first time Nii-chan just did a 180 and wandered towards Taichi I almost had a heart attack.”

Hikari seemed uncomfortable, looking up through her lashes at Miyako. Ken cleared his throat to try and get her attention, but she was too focused.

“I think-“ but Ken was cut off by Iori.

“It’s not freaky.” He did not elaborate, but the other five turned and started at him expectantly. He continued to eat his own soba for several seconds before he noticed the quiet. “What?”

“I just - didn’t expect that.” Ken swallowed the _from you_ at the end.

“Iori is always going to Koushiro’s to talk about Jogress!” Armadimon popped up from under the table, and Iori immediately covered his mouth with a hand.

“It’s purely an academic interest.” The poor kid looked like he might explode from his blush, and a silent look between Ken and Hikari had them starting a completely different conversation.

“Where should we go next?” Hikari asked the table.

“I’ve got Shikinaen and Shurijo castle on my list.” Miyako pulled out her phone and swiped through her planning documents.

“A garden sounds nice,” Ken said.

“For sure.”

They drove the ten minutes to Shikinaen, which may have been a mistake. None of them were very used to driving, Miyako being the only one with any real experience, and her driving was _scary_ . Then they had to find _parking_. Ken missed trains. They had reliably connected him and Daisuke for years, after all.

They dispersed into the park, Ken holding Daisuke’s hand as they deliberately slowed down to meander through the gardens. A small pagoda floated in the middle of the pond, koi fish swimming in the shallows and swarming them, clearly waiting for food. 

“It really is beautiful.” Ken stepped up onto the tiny stone bridge that connected the main area to the pagoda island.

“You’re beautiful.” Daisuke stopped Ken with their connected hands, and glanced around before pushing up to give him a quick peck on the lips.

Ken also nervously looked around after Daisuke pulled back, but things were surprisingly empty here. A cool breeze picked up, swirling around him. They sat inside the pagoda, and some birds came up to investigate them, quickly leaving when they didn’t pull out any crumbs. 

The flowers and trees all around them were beautiful. Tropical varieties Ken had never seen before, mixed with a few staples of a Japanese garden. the terrace of rhododendrons was particularly spectacular, pink, red and white stars in full bloom.

Daisuke held Ken, one arm around his back and the other on his knee, and kissed him so lightly and sweetly he thought he might die. 

“Thank you.” Ken wrapped his arm around Daisuke’s shoulders and rested his palm on Daisuke’s chest right above his heart. “I’m having a good time.”

“I’m really glad.”

“I just wish it wasn’t so cold.”

Daisuke looked at him like he had grown a second head. “Cold?”

“Yes? I mean, I was expecting it to be a bit warmer on a tropical island.”

“Ken, it’s like 25 degrees.”

Ken shivered, eyes widening. “It doesn’t feel like it...”

Daisuke’s hand covered his forehead. “Do you have a fever? That can give chills, right?”

“I’d have other symptoms first. Is it really that temperature?” Ken pulled out his phone, and it actually said it was 27 degrees. Ken’s hands were so _cold_.

“We can keep walking, see if that warms you up?” Daisuke took Ken’s hands, his warmth seeping into Ken like a balm. “Is this not normal? You’re basically always cold to me.”

Daisuke’s nearly non-stop babbling along with his hands pulling Ken to walk, much faster than they were before, was helping. He could feel his fingers slowly return to his version of normal, which really was much lower than Daisuke’s.

“I’m okay now, Daisuke.” Ken halted them in front of a very impressive willow tree.

Daisuke looked at him with such concern his chocolate brown eyes were overflowing. “You aren’t allowed to get sick on me, Ichijouji.” The words were joking but the tone was all worry.

“I think it was just a fluke, or maybe the pagoda? It’s much more pleasant over here.”

They met up with the others, who had finished their own explorations of the garden and small Okinawa-style building. Hikari insisted on a picture of the six plus Digimon in front of the entrance, and she even held Miyako’s elbow in their pose. Ken’s heart filled with hope for her to say something.

The two of them lingered behind as they walked back to the car.

“Did you see a guy in the tea room?” Hikari asked.

“The elderly couple?”

“No, no, I thought - I just felt like there were eyes on me the whole time in there.”

“Really? Daisuke and I found a nice deserted corner, we barely saw anyone.”

Hikari shivered, rubbing her arms. “I think it might have been shadows playing tricks on me.”

“Hikari-san, are you...cold?”

“Just a little. I’m sure the beach will warm me up.” She smiled at Ken as they climbed into the back seat.


	3. The Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of their vacation ends with a sunset beach trip and a horrible nightmare

Miyako was acting strange, which was putting Hikari on edge. It was frustrating her to no end. Her only consolation was that whatever was going on with them hadn’t seemed to affect Iori, Ken or Daisuke yet.

Miyako was distract with driving, with left her in the back seat with Takeru.

“Do you think Miyako’s acting a bit strange?” She whispered to him, careful to not be too loud and heard above the pop-y music Daisuke had picked out for the drive to Sunset Beach.

“Definitely.”

“I’m a little worried about her. Do you think planning the trip has been stressful? What can we do to help?”

“We can ask her. She’ll be honest about that kind of thing.”

Hikari watched as Miyako nearly merged into another car, jerking them back into the proper lane, laughing nervously. She looked in the rear view mirror and they locked eyes. “You’re right. I’ll ask her later.”

Miyako’s smile broadened as she watched Takeru and Hikari whispering to each other.

They arrived at the beach a little later than Miyako wanted, and Hikari watched for signs of distress, but she seemed to be handling it well.

“A little bit of give is important for vacation plans, Hikari. It’s about having fun, not cramming everything in, y’know?” She brushed off Hikari’s concerns.

Ken helped her set up their blanket, and the two of them immediately claimed spots on it and pulled out their respective books. Miyako followed Takeru and Iori on their quest to find an open volleyball spot, and Daisuke was somewhere near the water, presumably. She’d lost sight of him, and scanning the water didn’t help.

The weather was much more pleasant here. Hikari closed her eyes, ignoring her book for now in favor of enjoying the late afternoon sun. She hugged Tailmon close. “This is nice, isn’t it?”

Tailmon nodded her assent, but Ken didn’t say anything. Hikari cracked one eye just a bit to see him sitting ramrod straight, a look of pretend concentration on his face as he stared at his book, unblinking.

“Ken-kun?” She prodded.

Ken closed his book, sucking a deep breath in. “How did you do it, Hikari-chan?”

Hikari hugged Tailmon close. “I didn’t.”

“But you seem....fine right now.”

Hikari sat up, jostling Tailmon, who huffed and slid to her side. “I know Miyako is right over there.”

Ken glanced toward the group waiting for the volleyball court. “What can she do?”

“She could stop it. Even if I thought about it again, or it tried to get me, she could save me. So I know I’m okay, sitting here on the beach.”

“...Why can’t I get over it? I still think about Daisuke, how he, he ran  _ through _ me - all the time. He wanted to find me, to save me, and he -  _ couldn’t _ .” Ken trembled as he looked at Hikari.

Hikari covered Ken’s trembling hand. “We were all so  _ young _ then. Can you even imagine Daisuke-kun not knowing now?”

Ken broke their eye contact, finding Daisuke’s far away form swimming in the waves. “I think...I’m going to go swim.”

“Have fun!” Hikari watched as Ken stripped off his shirt and slowly padded closer and closer to the water, Daisuke noticed and immediately came to him, the two of them wading in together.

The sun slowly lowered, not quite sunset yet, illuminating the beach with long shadows behind her. The ocean was a bright, clear blue, and children played in the lazy, calm waves. The world was at peace, and she took a deep, cleansing breath.

A little while later, having gotten through a good chunk of her book, Miyako called out to her, “Hikari-chan! We got the court!”

They descended on the square of sand, neatly divided in half by a high net.

“Ready for some 3-on-3?” Takeru spun the ball like a basketball on his finger.

“You’re on! Ken and me get-“

“Now wait just a minute.” Miyako made a slicing motion with her hand. “You and Ken  _ cannot _ be on the same team.”

“Why not?”

Miyako took the ball from Takeru. “Close your eyes, Daisuke.”

“Miyako-chan....what are you doing?” Hikari tentatively asked.

“I’m  _ showing _ why they can’t be on the same team.  _ Close your eyes _ .”

“Ugh, fine.” Daisuke did as he was told. Miyako threw a serve directly at his face, and Ken gasped, making a move toward Daisuke, who perfectly hit the ball back. Completely with his eyes closed.

“See? Jogress partners can’t be together. It’s cheating.”

Despite the fact that really only Ken and Daisuke could do that trick, they obeyed. Hikari tried not to be too disappointed that Miyako wasn’t her partner. Maybe they could have gotten closer, maybe they could activate their own bond, strengthen it.

Maybe she’d be able to feel her.

Instead, she found Takeru and Ken next to her, both of them practically vibrating. Hikari wasn’t much for sports, she really only ran once a week, and the other team took advantage of that, Daisuke spiking the ball her way more than once and leaving Takeru caught between helping her side and holding his own. They were lucky that Ken was so spectacular blocking at the net, opposite Miyako.

Iori served yet another clean ace in Hikari’s direction, and she squeaked.

Takeru finally boiled over. “You keep targeting Hikari-chan!”

“Well duh, we wanna win.” Miyako laughed, tossing her ponytail over one shoulder.

Ken clapped his hands together. “I know you were trying to make it even, Miyako-san, but I think Hikari-chan should get a handicap.”

“No, please!” Hikari stepped in. “I don’t want any...special treatment.”

Takeru scrutinized her. “Are you having fun?”

“I’m fine, really.” She tried to calm things down, to no avail.

“Ken and I can carry Hikari-chan!”

“No way, Hikari should be with Takeru!” Miyako’s assertion caught Hikari off guard.

“Now that’s just silly. I could just as easily be with Iori.”

Miyako looked nervous, like she had several times today. “No, definitely Takeru.”

Hikari huffed. Now she was a bit upset. “Actually, I’ve decided I do want to pair with Daisuke-kun and Ken-kun.”

The only person who had a problem with this was Miyako, and Hikari found her annoyance growing. If her reasoning and explanations made sense, maybe she’d feel less upset, but it was factually true she was bad at sports, and needing to be on a team with Takeru made no sense.

Once they started up again, however, it became fairly clear that Ken and Daisuke could probably beat all four of them by themselves. Iori had strong setting, but kendo didn’t give him a lot of practice watching the chaotic movements of a ball and his defense suffered for it. Miyako gave it her all, calling and diving for nearly every serve, but she and Takeru didn’t communicate that great. Takeru and Iori were better, but they were always the weakest Jogress bond, they probably couldn’t even do it anymore. Takeru tried his best, his basketball skills transferring fairly well, but it was no match to the eerie way Ken and Daisuke moved together.

They always knew exactly where the other was, the right angle to send the ball into a perfect set position. They didn’t even have to talk - unlike Miyako, who called out “Mine!” Every other serve - Daisuke just  _ knew _ when Ken was coming to get the hit and could flow perfectly with him.

After Ken hit a particularly impressive dig, getting his chest covered in sand, and Daisuke perfectly positioned himself to cut across Miyako’s defense, sending sand flying in Takeru’s face, they decided to call the game. It was almost sunset, anyway.

They huddled together on their blanket, watching as the sky turned red, clouds illuminated beautifully from behind, looking like they were glowing.

Hikari dared to hold Miyako’s hand.

“Man, if we do nothing else I think this trip’ll have been worth it,” Takeru said with awe.

Hikari looked behind her to see Daisuke resting his head on Ken’s shoulder, looking smitten. “It really is beautiful here isn’t -“

Something was behind them. Hikari got up on her knees, trying to catch it again.

Nothing.

“Hikari-chan?” Takeru raised an eyebrow at her suddenly watching the opposite direction of the sunset.

She scanned the street, trying with all her might to catch it again. The shadows of the palm trees grew.

“Are you okay, Hikari-chan?” Daisuke this time.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thought I saw some...one.” She turned back around. Must have been her imagination.

During the car ride back to Naha, Takeru’s phone rang.

“Hello?” Takeru smiled. “Hey, nii-chan! Yeah, that sounds like fun. I’ll let everyone know.”

“Know what?” Iori asked.

“The others are going to dinner at this place Mimi found online. They have room for a 12-person party apparently.”

“We’re going straight to dinner?” Ken shifted uncomfortably. “But we’re all covered in sand.”

“I’m sure they’re used to it!” Daisuke ran a hand through Ken’s hair, grinning.

Ken didn’t say anything else, just tried to brush some more of the grit off his arms.

Dinner ended up having them split into smaller groups anyways, none of the tables close and big enough to push together. Hikari went with Taichi, Yamato and Takeru to catch up with her brother.

“Toyosaki is a really great beach, you guys should check it out.” Taichi took a swig of his beer.

“Sunset Beach was very nice too.”

“Did you check out that crazy Tiny America place?”

“Not today. Maybe tomorrow.”

Taichi threw an arm over Yamato’s shoulders. “What do you think, Yamato? Want to go look at a tiny version of America.”

“No.” Yamato scowled.

“What were you thinking of doing then, nii-chan?”

Yamato took a bite of the sea grapes they’d gotten for the table. “There’s a cave about an hour out that’s supposed to be really beautiful.”

“A cave sounds fun!” Taichi pecked Yamato on the cheek, earning a series of angry jabs.

“You know I don’t like PDA!”

Hikari laughed, but her chest gave a little pang. She glanced over at Miyako, sitting with Mimi, Sora and Koushiro. She looked so beautiful, her purple hair pulled back in a low ponytail, her face permanently grinning.

And she was supposed to room with her tonight.

Hikari blushed and tucked into her meal, trying to maintain the conversation as best she could.

They finally checked into the hotel well after 8, and Hikari was ready to go to sleep immediately. She was practically unconscious before she crawled into the single western-style bed that had been declared hers.

* * *

She was sitting on the beach, Miyako next to her. Her side was warm, and Hikari leaned into it, letting her eyes slip closed.

The wind picked up, tousling her hair, letting out a low whistling through the trees. Slowly, things grew quieter and quieter until it all stood still.

Still as a statue. Miyako had frozen, gone cold and grey like marble. She turned around and everyone was grey, grey, the ocean the only movement for miles.

A huge black wave poured out from a whirlpool and Hikari saw eyes that flashed red, the only color in the whole world, and she screamed.

The water poured up to her knees and she couldn’t move either, encased in the crushing pressure, she clutched the sides of her head -

“Hikari!” Miyako’s voice, her real voice, broke through and Hikari was lying in a comfortable bed, smothered by fluffy blankets.

“...Miyako-chan? What -“ Hikari’s brain took a second to reboot, remember.

She hadn’t thought about the Dark Ocean for so long. She grabbed onto Miyako and held tight.

“....D-do you want to talk about it?” Miyako slowly returned her desperate hug.

“The Ocean...”

“Should I....get Takeru?” Miyako pulled away a fraction, but Hikari tightened her already vice-like grip.

“No! I need you, Miyako.”

Miyako shifted so she was sitting more comfortably on the bed next to Hikari. “Okay. I’m here for you.”


	4. The Beach (interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisuke and Ken ~make love~ at the end of their first day of vacation  
> and then ends with a horrible nightmare

“Man, today was great!” Daisuke tossed off his sandals by the entranceway to their hotel room, stretching his sore back.

Ken followed behind him, much more carefully removing his own shoes, closing the door behind him. “I...really liked the beach.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Swimming with you was...fun.”

“I’m so glad.” Daisuke held Ken’s hand, leaning against the small wall-attached desk next to the bed. “The ocean doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

Ken’s love poured off him, covering Daisuke. He boxed Daisuke in, hands on the desktop on either side of his hips. Daisuke looked up and up and  _ up _ into Ken’s face, he was so  _ tall _ and Daisuke’s blood rushed south.

“Daisuke,” Ken murmured, eyes blown out, “I want you to fuck me.”

Daisuke bucked his hips into thin air and surged up, pulling Ken into a fiery kiss. The way Ken opened his mouth and sucked on Daisuke’s tongue made him want to throw Ken on the bed right this second.

Before he could act on that impulse, Ken pulled back. “I’m going to take a shower, then  _ you’re _ going to take a shower because I’m not getting any sand in me.”

“Can’t we shower together?” Daisuke asked as Ken slipped from his embrace.

“I want to  _ actually _ shower, Daisuke.” Ken shut the door to the bathroom, leaving Daisuke feeling overcharged with nothing to do for at least ten minutes. He reached out and imagined Ken meticulously touching his whole body, washing off the splashes of sand from his chest, his muscles flexing and sore from earlier, when he threw his all onto the court. Daisuke lightly palmed the front of his swim trunks, remembering how Ken swung his arms with such power, jumped and smacked at the ball with trained precision.

He was completely hard by the time Ken opened the bathroom door with only a towel wrapped around his waist, hair still dripping. At his look, Ken smirked. “Shower first, then you get to touch me however you want.”

Daisuke stripped down and took the shortest shower he ever had, cursing his hair for  _ somehow _ also getting sand in it from their aggressive game.

He could  _ tell _ when Ken started touching himself, getting a sudden spike of arousal. He whimpered and finished washing the grit off, perfunctorily drying himself and leaving the towel on the floor, stepping back into the main room.

Ken had pulled the duvet back, laid his towel on the bed under his hips and was now supine with one finger stretching himself open, a small bottle of lube next to his head. When they locked eyes, Ken bent his knees and opened his legs invitingly, and Daisuke practically vaulted between them.

“You’re so beautiful.” Daisuke tasted up Ken’s abs, sucking on taut alabaster skin and reaching a nipple, gently biting down. Ken mewled and arched his back, and Daisuke drank up the noises he could bring out of him in these moments. He fumbled with the lube, coating his fingers before joining Ken’s own hand, feeling the shadow of pushing into Ken. His own body clenched around an intrusion that wasn’t there.

“I love you.” Ken swept his free hand down Daisuke’s side, thumb rubbing at the dip of his hips. Daisuke moved his finger in and out, in time with Ken, the two of them scissoring him open together. Ken closed his eyes and buried the side of his face in the pillow, but Daisuke took his chin, pulling him into a kiss.

“Stay with me, Ken.” Daisuke’s fingertips caressed his cheek, and Ken nodded, his breaths shallow and rough. Their kiss sent a pulse through Daisuke, feeling as Ken relaxed. He could hear Ken’s soul in his chest, a breathtaking kaleidoscope of joy and anxiety and Daisuke willed Ken to feel all his unwavering love.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Ken pulled his hand out, and Daisuke settled between his legs, his hand guiding his cock against Ken’s entrance.

The first push in was always just shy of overwhelming, Daisuke simultaneously feeling Ken all around him and experiencing Ken’s pleasure-pain under the surface. Ken’s cries urging him deeper were impossible not to follow, more like hypnotic orders going straight to his hips. Hands ghosted over his upper body before falling to grab at the sheets as he buried to the hilt. 

Daisuke took a moment just to look at Ken, eyes shut and mouth gasping for air as he clawed at the fitted sheet. Daisuke could barely believe he was here with him, that Ken had chosen him of everyone in the world he could have had. Ken looked up at him, purple irises faint, and whispered, “Fuck me, please.”

He rolled his hips and lifted Ken’s with his hands, looking for that perfect angle. He knew he’d found it when spots erupted in his sight, and Daisuke stopped all movement, breathing deeply to back down from the edge.

Ken grabbed the base of his own cock. “More, more.” He wrapped his legs around Daisuke’s back.

Daisuke set a pace he knew Ken liked, pulling back slowly and pistoning back in, doing his best to hit the spot where he saw stars. He was so close, but Ken held them both back with his squeezing hand, dissolving into a string of babbling of Daisuke’s name and begging pleas.

Daisuke loved to see Ken undone, no longer holding himself exactly right and proper and wound up like a top, the knots in his soul being cut through by Daisuke’s feelings as they became one.

Ken let go of himself and Daisuke thrust one, two more times, both of them coming at the exact same time, perfectly in sync, their bond singing and wide open, every emotion felt with crystal clarity.

Daisuke found himself collapsed on top of Ken, still buried inside, and got to watch as Ken fluttered his eyes open, smiling serenely at him.

“Daisuke...” Ken’s legs fell from around his waist, Daisuke finally slipping out. He wiped at Ken with the towel underneath them, cleaning them up.

They pulled the duvet up and continued to kiss and caress each other for several more minutes before falling into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Ken was confident, tonight he wouldn’t have a nightmare. He never had before on the nights he and Daisuke made love.

That night, Ken dreamt.

Shadow creatures held his wrists, forced him to his knees.

Something slithered around his chest, slicing a wave of cold through him.

He couldn’t breathe, he was drowning, he couldn’t get away as he was maneuvered by tightening, tightening tentacles.

His eyes snapped open, back in his warm cocoon with Daisuke wrapped all around him, and tried very hard not to scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: I almost just added the tag "spark sexual interfacing" because that is DEFINITELY what this would be if we were in transformers fandom rn.


	5. Constitution Memorial Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day of vacation begins promisingly, but the arrival of something destructive derails the Chosen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever just have one of Those Days?  
> There's some Digimon-on-Digimon(?) violence in here but nothing too graphic.

Miyako yawned into her hands once more, sipping on a cup of black coffee. She was glad Hikari had been able to get back to sleep after waking up screaming like that, but she sure hadn’t. She hadn’t even known Hikari dealt with dreams about the Dark Ocean anymore.

Hikari hadn’t confided in her about it.

“Miyako-chan.” Hikari slid into the chair opposite hers, holding a tray of western-style breakfast foods, some kind of bread roll and yogurt. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“Don’t worry about it.  _ I’m _ sorry you had a nightmare.” Miyako covered Hikari’s hand with her own.

“It’s been so long since I have.” Hikari looked haunted, far away despite being right next to her in the cramped hotel breakfast area. “I didn’t think I was still so sensitive about it.”

“You don’t think - going to the beach -?”

“Oh, no! No. Ken-kun and I talked a bit, it came up obliquely. I must have gotten stuck in my own head about it.”

Takeru came down, entering the buffet line and picking out his own breakfast. Miyako pulled her hand back, missing the disappointed frown that crossed Hikari’s face.

“Takeru-kun! Over here!”

Takeru meandered over the the two of them. “What’s up?”

“You can take my seat, Takeru-kun. I’m just finishing my coffee up.” Miyako felt a pang in her heart as Takeru took her place at Hikari’s side. That was better.

Hikari deserved a perfect person. Someone as soft and sweet as her, someone who truly understood and didn’t just keep trying to and failing. She and Takeru looked so good together, they were both so attractive.

Wow, okay, maybe Ken wasn’t so off base about thinking she liked Takeru. She didn’t, but she wasn’t  _ blind _ either. It was normal to appreciate your friends’ attractiveness.

She scanned the room until her eyes landed on Ken and Daisuke, sitting next to a bay window. Ken had dark circles under his eyes and looked about as tired as Miyako felt. She marched over immediately.

“Hey guys.” She flopped into the chair opposite where they were cuddling. “Dai-kun keep you up all night?” Her eyebrows waggled.

Daisuke’s death glare was worth it to see Ken blush. Another attractive friend she never stood a chance with. “Not that it’s any of your business, Miyako, but Ken had a bad nightmare last night.”

“Oh shit. What did you and Hikari-chan  _ talk _ about to set both of you off?”

Ken straightened from his crunched up position and it was a wonder he didn’t have back damage from how much time he spent hunched over so Daisuke could hold him and Miyako cursed her brain. “What happened to Hikari-chan?”

“She had a nightmare about the Dark Ocean.”

“ _ What _ ?” Ken shot up, breathing heavily. He marched over to Hikari and they began to speak, too far away for Miyako to pick up. Daisuke clenching a fist on the table was distracting her anyway.

“Don’t just blithely bring up the D.O. to Ken like that.”

“Oh, so I’m supposed to just talk around it like everybody else?”

“Yes!” Daisuke snapped.

“Well that’s  _ not _ how you get over stuff, Daisuke! Ken isn’t so fragile he’s going to shatter if he hears the word ‘dark’.”

“I’m  _ trying _ -“ Daisuke’s nostrils flared as he took in an angry breath. “ - to  _ protect _ him.”

“You’re kinda doing a shit job.”

“I know! I know, okay?” All Daisuke’s anger snapped inward. “He keeps telling me he’s happy and having a good time, but this was two nights in a row. He  _ hid _ the one he had the night before we left from me.”

Miyako blinked, her cup halted halfway to her mouth. “He did?”

“I think he was trying to protect  _ me _ . We were both hoping he just, wouldn’t have them once we were on vacation?”

“Vacations aren’t magical, Daisuke. If you want to actually  _ help _ Ken with these nightmares you’re gonna have to talk about them and stop pretending you can just not bring up the Dark Ocean and that’ll make the damage from it go away.” Miyako stood and walked away, not looking back even with Daisuke shouting.

* * *

“I don’t pretend! Being careful is not ignoring something!”

“Daisuke?” Ken was back from his conversation with Hikari. “What does Miyako-san think you’re ignoring.”

Daisuke gulped. “She thinks I don’t talk to you about your nightmares enough.”

“I don’t...really  _ want _ to talk about them.” Ken took his seat again, plastering to Daisuke’s side. “It’s obvious I just wasn’t ready to go to the beach yet, anyway.”

“Aww, but you had a really good time.”

Ken smiled and took Daisuke’s hand, caressing it with his thumb. “I did. It was great before I went to sleep. Let’s just...skip the beach today, though.”

“Anything you want.”

Ken put on his contemplative face. “There’s an Okinawa Historical Village next to the aquarium. That sounded like fun.”

“Figures you’d make me  _ learn _ while we’re here.” Daisuke knocked into Ken’s shoulder and stood, offering his hand to Ken.

“We can watch the dolphin show afterwards.” Ken took the offered hand, the two of them meeting up with the other Chosen who were heading to Churaumi Aquarium.

“They’re the dogs of the ocean, Ken!”

The drive to Churaumi was much more pleasant with Koushiro behind the wheel rather than Miyako, even with them overpacking the car with eight people, only Sora and Jou going on Taichi and Yamato’s great cave adventure and excuse to make out.

Daisuke and Ken ditched the rest in front of the aquarium, instead heading into the extensive park area around it. “We’ll catch up with you later!” Daisuke waved them off.

The walk to the historical village was beautiful, topiaries of various sea life at every corner of the winding paths. Ken stopped in front of a particularly spectacular sea turtle with what looked like hydrangeas for eyes. Daisuke sidled up next to him, and Ken pulled him into a side hug, running his hand up and down his side with a feather light touch.

As they passed a school of sculptured fish, Ken asked, “Should we get a pet?”

Daisuke’s face split into a dazzling grin, teeth shining. “That’s a big step, Ken. Are you sure we’re ready?”

Ken gave Daisuke an unamused look. “We already live together with two digimon.”

“They mostly take care of themselves and you know it. I mean, we couldn’t just let a cute little dog loose in this park to amuse themselves could we?”

“Oh, so you’ve already decided it’s a dog? What if I want a cat?”

“You definitely want a dog.”

Ken laughed and gently pushed Daisuke’s shoulder. “Okay, we’ll -“

Something jumped out of the bushes. At first he thought it was Wormmon, but the proportions were Wrong. It disappeared into the thick of a pile of amaryllis. The blooms barely moved despite the violent entrance into their closely-knit stems.

“What’s up?” Daisuke turned around and looked at the spot where Ken was staring, but there was nothing there anymore.

“Just some animal, I couldn’t really tell. Let’s get to the village.”

They found the smattering of old buildings, and Ken began to explore. The history was fascinating, but he could have done without the mannequins and wax statues that created a facsimile of humanity in the buildings. He could have sworn one turned its head in his direction.

The ocean waves in the background were giving Ken pangs of anxiety. He was so  _ tired _ of being afraid of the ocean. He’d been  _ in _ it yesterday and it was fine.

He tried to get back to the here and now, grounded himself in Daisuke’s presence, focused on the two of them, here looking at cute huts made of wood and straw. He could still hear the waves.

“Are you okay?” Daisuke knew, of course he could tell.

“I just. I thought this was further away from the ocean.”

“Do you want to go more inland?”

“No! This is stupid. So what if I can hear waves? That shouldn’t bother me this much!” Ken clenched his fists and shut his eyes, taking shuddering breaths.

Daisuke took his hands and slowly massaged them open. “You can’t control what sets off your anxiety.”

“But I want to.” Ken hated how whiny his voice sounded.

“Wild that you can hear the ocean from here though, I mean, that’s some good hearing.”

Ken stared at Daisuke, a pit in his stomach. “You can’t?”

* * *

Miyako clung to Mimi’s side in the aquarium, barely taking it in despite the grand scale. She watched with a frown as a  _ whale shark _ swam by, and felt like shit.

“That’s no way to look on vaca.” Mimi clapped a hand on her shoulder.

“I know.” Miyako crossed her arms.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“...I’m worried my plan isn’t working.”

“Nonsense! Everyone is having a great time. Even us hangers-on.” Mimi led them to the next exhibit, an impressive coral reef installation with clownfish darting in and out of hidey-holes.

“Not  _ that _ plan. I - kinda had a more romantic plan.”

Mimi nodded knowingly. “Vacations  _ can _ bloom into feelings. Who are you trying to be alone with?”

Miyako blushed. “I’m trying...to get Takeru-kun and Hikari-chan together.”

To her surprise, Mimi burst into laughter. “Oh, dear. Oh honey.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Their  _ brothers _ are  _ dating _ , silly. Can you  _ imagine _ ?”

Miyako couldn’t imagine. Whoever Momoe or Chizuru was dating had absolutely no bearing on her life. “But - but they’re so cute together!”

Mimi continued into the outdoor section, where a pair of sea lions was basking on some rocks to their right. “They were cute as kids too, but that ship sailed a while ago.”

“Hikari deserves someone good, though.”

“Well -“ Mimi stopped, blocking Miyako from continuing to walk through the outdoor section. “Why not you then?”

Miyako turned red. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it - especially with how all over each other Ken and Daisuke were with their Jogress bond. But Hikari was way too good for her. “That’s crazy.”

“I don’t see why.”

“Because - because - Hikari is perfect.”

“Ooh, maybe you shouldn’t date if you have such a warped view of her.”

“Are you saying Hikari  _ isn’t _ perfect?” Miyako yelled, earning a few glances from the other aquarium guests who had been skirting around her and Mimi planted to the side.

“Definitely not. C’mon, let’s head over to the dolphin show.” Mimi turned and waved Miyako towards the large tank where several trainers were setting up, already feeding the dolphins with a couple fish from the buckets they held.

Miyako huffed as she followed Mimi. She was aware that Hikari wasn’t  _ perfect _ perfect, but she was certainly better than her. She was always sweet, and never said the wrong thing, and people loved her. Not like Miyako.

Miyako, the idiot who thought she stood a chance against Daisuke in their fight for Ken’s affection.

“Where are Ken and Daisuke? Didn’t they say they wanted to watch this?”

“They’re probably too busy fu- kissing somewhere.”

She was happy for them, really. She was  _ over it _ . She had  _ moved on _ from the hot embarrassment and heartbreak of a few years ago.

* * *

“Miyako-san?” Ken stood awkwardly in the automatic door of Ai Mart, clutching his own elbow in a death grip.

“It’s great to see you, Ken-kun!” Miyako vaulted from behind the counter, sidling up to Ken and batting her eyes.

“Could we...talk about something?” Ken didn’t seem to know where to look, his eyes darting about and never resting on her.

Was this it? Confession time?

“Of course. We can go to the back room.” Miyako slid her hand in place of Ken’s on his elbow, hanging off his arm. “Oi! I’m taking a break!”

Momoe was restocking the baked goods, and yelled back something about it not being time for a break yet, but Miyako ignored her.

She had Ken in her clutches, in the semi-private break room of Ai Mart, where stacks of boxes lined one wall and a small round table with a handful of mismatched chairs stood in the middle. Miyako tucked Ken into one, and sat across from him, expectant.

Ken’s perfect cheekbones were dusted with a small blush. “This is pretty embarrassing...”

“You can tell me  _ anything _ , Ken-kun. I’m here for you.”

“I think.” Ken chopped up his words, so shy and embarrassed and  _ cute _ . “I might like - not just as a friend. Way more than that - I think I might lov - “

Miyako leaned in, waiting, waiting.

“ - Daisuke.”

* * *

The dolphin show was brilliant, Miyako’s favorite was definitely Yuki, a sweet-looking Chinese white dolphin who really enjoyed balancing balls on her big head. She was apparently best friends with the smaller Kuro, a right whale dolphin.

The three bottle nose dolphins performed a simultaneous jump at the same time something crashed at the front of the aquarium, loud enough for even the audience to hear. Miyako jumped up and ran to the front, calling for Hawkmon to follow her.

Something had certainly crashed into the statue at the front of Churaumi, but Miyako couldn’t see a culprit, just the damage. The meticulously landscaped garden was in disarray, and the large turtle sculpture had taken the brunt of the damage.

Her eyes darted around until she spotted Koushirou and Iori.

“Did you see what did this?”

Koushiro shook his head in the negative. “I did catch a spike of activity, but it didn’t exactly match a Digimon slipping through.”

“I’ll check around and see if we can catch something!”

Miyako turned to Hawkmon, who nodded. “Let’s go.”

A burst of power later, Aquilamon was soaring through the skies with Miyako on its back, her headset on and relaying info back to Koushiro and Iori on the ground.

She spotted Ken and Daisuke, running toward the aquarium entrance, but no sign of what could have created that destruction.

“I don’t see anything up here. Iori?”

“Nothing on my end.”

Miyako caught another swath of destruction out of the corner of her eye and they turned towards it, only to see - nothing. It was like the destruction had just appeared out of thin air.

“Something’s weird here.” She tapped all on her headset, broadcasting to everyone currently in contact. “Does anyone know of an invisible Digimon?”

“It could be like when BlackWarGreyMon slipped into Kyoto.” Hikari’s staticky voice played in her ear.

“I could see him then even though no one else could!”

“Try looking through your cell phone camera,” Koushirou said. “He showed up on cameras for everyone.”

Miyako pulled out her phone, fumbling and almost dropping it and having a mini heart attack. She used the camera to sweep the park area, but nothing unusual came up. More crashing, this time from near where the others were clustered around Koushiro and his laptop.

Gashes appeared in the walkway, whatever was doing it tearing through concrete like it was dirt. Trees were whipped by more than just the wind, holes punched into leaves. The whale shark sculpture crashed down from something pushing it.

“No, it can’t be -“ Hikari choked.

“What  _ is _ that?” Ken sounded haunted even over the communicator.

“You two can  _ see _ it?”

“Yes.”

“Then  _ fight _ it!” Miyako screamed and directed Aquilamon to dive towards where it probably was, managing to connect with something hard. Where Aquilamon’s talons dug in, black sludge seemed to seep out and Miyako could finally at least see part of what they were fighting.

Aquilamon pulled back to let Miyako down and she ran towards where the others were just  _ standing around _ . “What are you  _ doing? _ ”

It was then that she noticed they weren’t just standing around, but that Ken and Hikari were both on the floor, clutching their heads and screaming. Daisuke was trying to get Ken’s attention along with Wormmon, and Takeru and Mimi were frantically trying to help Hikari sit up, Tailmon shaking her shoulders.

The thing was still mostly invisible, but now there were two black spots she could use to get the basic shape. “Koushiro, can you open a gate from that laptop?”

Koushiro seemed to break out of a daze of staring at their two down. “Yes, but I don’t -“

“Then let’s send whatever this is back to the digital world.” Iori stood next to Miyako, Armadimon next to him with narrowed eyes.

“I’m not even sure it’s from the digital world.” Koushiro tapped on his laptop with lightning speed.

“Better there than here!” Miyako watched as the spots lurched forward, and Iori tensed up next to her, Ankylomon jumping up to try and grapple with an invisible opponent.

Ankylomon was revealing more chunks of the creature, that same black bursting out of the connection points.

“Okay, I’ve got a gate opening in front of us in...10 seconds.”

Aquilamon took a hit from some sort of appendage, that flashed into sight, moving weirdly like a waving string, and Miyako gasped. “Are you okay, Aquilamon?”

“I’m fine.” Aquilamon flew back into the fray and helped Ankylomon push the creature back, as the gate burst into life. They forced it into the light and it disappeared into a burst of digitization.

Finally, Ken and Hikari stopped screaming. 


	6. Duty

“I know this wasn’t how we wanted to spend Golden Week,” Koushiro said from his spot in the middle of the large penthouse Mimi had gotten the older six Chosen. “But we have to figure out what happened and if we can stop it from happening again.”

Ken felt sick. He’d never seen something so horrible as that monster in front of the aquarium. His head hurt from trying to remember where he’d seen something similar before.

“Actually, we don’t.” Sora stood up. “We don’t  _ have _ to stop Digimon attacks. We don’t  _ have _ to fight.”

“What can we even  _ do _ ?” Jou pinched his nose, glasses dangling from his fingertips. “It’s not like the six of us can even help without our Digimon.”

Ken tried to focus on the room, counting the windows. There were fourteen. His hands were shaking even as Daisuke held them firm. Daisuke hadn’t let him go since the fight, always keeping at least one hand resting somewhere on Ken’s body.

“I hate to admit our helplessness, but - Jou’s right. As much as I want to fight, we  _ can’t _ .” Taichi leant on the desk near the windows.

“For now, I think information is far more important than physically fighting.” Koushiro focused on his computer, tapping out line after line. “After analyzing everything, I’m now certain that thing was not  _ entirely _ a Digimon. It was something I’ve never seen before.”

“I’ve seen it before.”

Hikari stood, and everyone swiveled to watch her.

“I saw it, ten years ago almost exactly.”

Ken curled himself into Daisuke’s side, trying to disappear. It wasn’t just residual trauma anymore, it wasn’t just  _ his _ problem. And he was going to have to  _ talk _ about it.

Hikari demanded everyone’s attention with a look, spreading her arms wide. “It all lines up. Why only Ken and I saw it, the fact that it’s both Digimon and  _ not _ , it was from the Dark Ocean.”

No one said anything for a very long time. No one wanted to believe that could be true. Ken knew it was, knew he’d  _ felt _ the malevolence that gripped him before.

“So what do we do?” Daisuke broke the fragile silence. “How do we stop it?”

“I know very little about the Dark Ocean,” Koushiro started. “What I need right now is data and info about how it connected to our world.”

“We don’t need to do anything,” Sora said.

“Of course we have to do something!” Daisuke tensed, torn between getting in Sora’s face and continuing to hold Ken.

“This isn’t our job anymore! We were conscripted as  _ children _ to  _ fight _ and we don’t have to!”

“With all due respect, Sora-san, shut the fuck up.” Takeru did what Daisuke wanted to, towering over Sora. “You weren’t there when Hikari-chan was taken the first time. This isn’t some random Digimon fight you can opt out of. It’s coming after  _ her _ .”

Sora glared at Takeru. “You need to calm down.”

Takeru spat venom, something about the darkness needing to be destroyed, pushing Sora’s shoulders, and Yamato ran to clutch Takeru to his chest, everyone converging in a big pile trying to pull Sora and Takeru apart.

In the cacophony, Daisuke’s hand slipped from Ken and he felt a spike of anxiety, trying to get control. He crawled into a corner of the room, away from the yelling and fighting.

Five. There was a ceiling light, the desk over by the windows, a pile of their bags, a pair of goggles on the desk, Koushiro’s laptop, the lavish bed next to him.

Four. He felt the soft carpet under his fingers, touched his own arms, goosebumps all along them, the wall behind him was weirdly smooth from the wallpaper.

Three. All he could hear was the yelling. Skip.

Two. He smelled some kind of disinfectant, and the musky scent of Daisuke.

One. Daisuke was back, and Ken clung to him, tasting the sweat on his neck.

“What happened?” He asked without opening his eyes.

“Sora and Takeru got sent to separate side rooms to calm down.” Daisuke settled in a more comfortable seat beside him, leaning against the wall. “You okay now?”

“Yeah,” Ken only partially lied.

Taichi was tacking papers to the wall, apparently making some sort of plan. Ken watched as he wrote down everyone’s names and seemed to be pairing them up.

“So here’s my plan.” He turned from his hastily created board. “Koushiro, you said you need data. We’re going to going out in  _ at least _ pairs and gather that with our phones.”

Everyone nodded along.

“And - Hikari don’t argue - I don’t think Ken and Hikari should participate.” Taichi continued.

Ken breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to go out and potentially see that  _ thing _ again, but Hikari was not having it.

“Excuse me? I know what’s coming now, and in case you forgot,  _ we’re the only ones who can see them _ .”

“Fighting blind is better than putting you two in danger.”

“That’s nonsense! Just pair me with Miyako-chan, I’ll be fine.”

Miyako shifted guiltily. “Shouldn't you be with Takeru-kun? He - we know he can pull you out, help.”

“You  _ just _ saved us, Miyako-chan.” Hikari huffed and angrily sat on the bed, crossing her arms.

Taichi threw his arms up in defeat. “Fine, you can come with me, Yamato and Miyako. But one of us is going to watch you at all times.”

Hikari didn’t look happy about it, but said, “Fine.”

“Daisuke.” Taichi turned to where they were curled up on the floor. “You, Mimi, Jou and Iori can scout the southeast around Naha. I don’t know if Sora or Takeru will join you, but definitely not both. My group will go North.”

“I’m not leaving Ken.” Daisuke threw an arm around Ken and hid him from Taichi.

“Actually,” Koushiro interrupted them, “I was hoping Ichijouji-san could help me with interpreting what we get, you have the most knowledge of the Dark Ocean.”

Ken laughed internally. Knowledge? A broken child’s memory and scars where knowledge used to be didn’t seem to be particularly useful.

“I’ll do whatever I can, Izumi-san.” Came out of his mouth.

Daisuke pulled Ken aside before his group left.

“I’ll check in with you every five minutes. Keep focused on me.” Daisuke laid a hand over Ken’s heart. “If I feel  _ anything _ I’ll come right back.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m going to be nothing but bad feelings for a while,” Ken replied.

Daisuke hesitated, leaning up and kissing Ken, just a brush of lips. “Call to me, I’ll protect you. No matter what.”

“I know you will.”

Ken settled next to Koushiro, who had spread out several electronics onto the desk in the suite.

“You brought all this stuff?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“It pays to be prepared.”

Ken watched as Koushiro set up his communication hub, listening to everyone out in the field. Some data started to flow in, and Koushiro zoomed in on some particular spot that didn’t mean much of anything to Ken.

“Does this look familiar?”

Ken stared at the glyphs. They  _ did _ look familiar. “Yes.”

“Any idea what it means?”

Ken’s head hurt, and he looked away from the screen. “No.”

Koushiro’s hand clapped on his shoulder, trying to give comfort. “It’s okay. Can you tell me anything you’ve noticed the past few days?”

Ken shivered even though he wasn’t cold  _ now _ . “Yesterday. It was cold. It was so  _ cold _ .” He should have realized something was wrong then.

Koushiro tapped on his keyboard. “Did that happen before?”

“Yes.” Ken curled his feet up onto the chair, bending inward at an awkward angle. “Back when Hikari-chan, Miyako-san and I - in the Digital World.”

Daisuke’s concern blared in his mind and he tried to project reassurance.

“Any other odd events?”

Nightmares. Ken had been having nightmares for  _ weeks _ , flashes of water and beaches, monochrome scenery,  _ pain _ . “I thought I saw a shadow today, just before the attack. It didn’t seem able to interact with the real world, though.”

Koushiro hummed, continuing the rapid tapping. “I wonder how long it’s been trying to punch through to the real world...how did you open a gate to the Dark Ocean?”

He ripped his soul open and let pain radiate into him. “It just sort of happened when I tried.”

Ken curled in his chair and listened to Koushiro work, talking on his headset with the two groups outside. He tried his best to answer when Koushiro asked him questions, but mostly his mind was blank and he felt extremely useless.

* * *

Daisuke was only half-there as he and Mimi used their phones to scan the area around Shuri Castle, where Koushiro had directed them. It was good that he didn’t have to do anything other than wander around and wave his phone in the air, because there was no way he wasn’t going to hyperfocus on Ken right now.

Ken was so scared and sad, but nothing seemed to be happening. It was just a general malaise, and Daisuke sighed.

Mimi popped up next to him and Daisuke flinched. “I finished up near the castle itself. Koushiro says it seems clear.” She scanned up and down his whole body with a glance. “You good?”

“Just - Ken.” Daisuke did not elaborate.

Mimi gave him a sympathetic look and squeezed his shoulder. “He’ll be okay. We’re all here for him and Hikari-chan.”

“I know.” Daisuke let his arm holding his phone up fall to his side. “I just hate that he has to deal with this at all.”

Mimi didn’t respond right away, letting her own tightly clutched phone slip into her pocket. “He’s gone through more than most of us, huh?”

The understatement of the year. Daisuke put away his own phone, turned off his headset. He stared at the refurbished wall of rocks that once marked the outside of the castle courtyard.

“When we figure out this ocean stuff I’m going to destroy whatever’s in there that’s doing this.”

“You sound like Takeru-kun.”

“Well he has the right idea!” Daisuke dared Mimi to argue with a glare. “I’ll do anything to protect Ken.”


	7. The Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taichi's group gathers data, maybe too much data.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More digimon-on-digimon(?) violence, and attempted kidnapping

Miyako watched like a hawk as Hikari and Takeru scanned the village they were just feet from yesterday. Hikari had insisted on coming here, since she had thought she’d seen something, which made sense except _Hikari should be away from this_. At least Takeru refused to leave her side.

She walked along a brightly-colored path and saw Taichi just a few steps ahead, staring at a sign.

“Taichi?”

“She’s got a real stubborn streak, y’know?” Taichi acknowledged her with a nod.

“Hikari-chan? She’s the most passive person I know!”

“When she puts her mind to something, you can’t dissuade her, though. That’s something we have in common.”

Miyako shook her head, trying to understand. And get back on track. “Did you scan this part of the town for Koushiro-shachou?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, guess we should go somewhere else?”

Miyako walked next to Taichi, a permanent scowl stuck on his face. He occasionally furrowed his brows at nothing, or shook his head even though she didn’t ask anything.

“Yamato-san doing okay?”

Taichi started, as if he didn’t realize she was still there with him. “Yeah, he’s walking on the beach, looking for things.”

“You two are lucky.”

“We are?” Taichi actually gave her all his attention for once.

“Your Jogress bond...it sounds lovely.”

He snorted. “A lovely pain in the ass half the time.”

That wasn’t what she expected. But she supposed Daisuke wasn’t Taichi, despite the surface similarities. “But aren’t you in love?”

“Well, yeah. But that doesn’t make Yamato kind of annoying, you know?” Taichi shrugged. “Besides, you’ve got your own bond, don’t you?”

“Oh.” Miyako blushed. “Hikari-chan and I don’t. It isn’t like that.”

“Yamato and I didn’t start like that, either. I don’t think anybody had the bizarre experience Ken and Daisuke did.” Taichi looked around, apparently decided on something, and pulled out his phone to take more readings. “We didn’t start clicking until we’d Jogressed multiple times while you were -“ he cut himself off. “Anyway, my point is it was a thing we worked on together and grew into.”

That was easy for Taichi to say. He and Yamato may have taken a while to bond, but they were obviously meant to be. The Digital World had just made a mistake when they paired her with Hikari instead of Iori. She and Takeru both had _angel Digimon_ for goodness sake.

Besides, Miyako _had_ had a profound experience with Hikari, stuck in that pocket of the Ocean with her. It just hadn’t been enough to form whatever connected the others.

“You guys haven’t Jogressed in a while, right? You should try it again. We might need it, to be honest.” Taichi cut through her thoughts.

“I think...Hikari-chan should try to Jogress with Takeru-kun instead of me, if it comes to that.”

Taichi actually grabbed her shoulders. “Hikari is _your_ partner.”

Miyako stared at Taichi’s eyes, filled with a fire she rarely saw. “The Digital World was just desperate for extra firepower.”

“I can see how you’d think that. Homeostasis sucks. But it doesn’t just _randomly_ pair people up, otherwise more than just Yamato and I would have had one before.”

Miyako shrugged off Taichi’s hands and stared at him. “I’m gonna go. Find Hikari-chan.”

She ran away from Taichi and his intensity. She didn’t even know what he was _saying_. She and Hikari were destined for each other? She hadn’t even been chosen when Hikari had already saved the world multiple times.

And what was the Digital World’s decision to pick and choose children if not random? They _randomly_ saw and interacted with Digimon, and they _happened_ to go to the same school because of that seeding. Miyako didn’t even have her own crest. She was nothing but an extra in the Universe.

If she could use what little power she had to protect Hikari from the darkness, she would. But Takeru was the one with the Hope and the power to do that for real.

By the time her head stopped spinning she was standing in front of Hikari and Takeru, both of them giving her inquisitive looks.

“You okay, Miyako-chan?” Takeru asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, it’s just. You sort of walked up to us and then didn’t say anything for about 20 seconds.” Hikari this time.

Miyako shook her head. “Really? How did I...find you?”

Takeru shrugged and Hikari held her hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“You’re the one we should be worried about, Hikari-chan.” Miyako squeezed Hikari’s hand, a warm anchor.

Miyako tried to separate from the two of them again, ostensibly to cover more ground but mostly to get away and hope something happened there, but Hikari would not let her go, and Miyako couldn’t say no to her. Not right now. 

Hikari was actively trying to tap into whatever she saw and Miyako and Takeru didn’t. She repeatedly asked about their sensory experiences. How did the temperature feel. What did they hear. Any strange shadows in their sight.

Apparently Hikari had hidden a lot of things that happened yesterday.

When Hikari clutched her arms and shivered, Miyako went on high alert. She scanned around, looking for something, anything to _see_. But she couldn’t.

“Use my eyes. I’ll look and direct you two.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Hikari-chan? You collapsed just a few hours ago from seeing them.” Takeru said.

“I’m fine. I know what I’m up against now, I can handle it.” She took Miyako’s hand once again. “Don’t let go.”

Hikari walked in the direction that felt more off, and Miyako felt her own apprehension growing. She tightened her grip on Hikari.

And she saw it this time. The trees in front of them rippled, and the ocean that had been about 200 meters out from where they were suddenly rushed inland. It bubbled up and almost looked like ink instead of water. A head burst out from under the surface and Miyako stepped in front of Hikari, her head splitting open from a headache.

“Is it coming from the ocean?” Takeru stared out at where the creature was, face set but uncomprehending.

“Get out of the way!” Miyako grabbed Takeru’s hand and narrowly pulled him out of the way of the creature, whipping out a tendril of that swirling darkness and slamming it right where Takeru was standing.

The thing took a step as the ocean receded back where it belonged, creating a deep impression in the sand. It reabsorbed the appendage it had just almost decimated Takeru with. “We have to get to safety!”

The humans ran away as their Digimon sprang into action, evolving in a blink of an eye. 

Aquilamon and Angemon held the creature off as the three of them ran parallel to the ocean, not wanting to head into the city center and potentially endanger any more bystanders. Angewomon flew close by them, refusing to leave Hikari’s side.

The thing threw Angemon into a building and advanced, lurching into the street. A poor hapless car slammed into it, unable to even see the danger.

They had to get away from all these people. But they couldn’t go any nearer to the ocean, that was a terrible plan. Miyako darted her head around, but there was just a small wooded area to her left. It was their best bet at this point.

“Let’s get into those trees!” She pulled Hikari across the stopped traffic, trying to keep ahead of the monster. Black slammed in front of them, and Angewomon cut into it, slicing the appendage off completely, but it didn’t disappear. Miyako and Hikari had to vault over it, and when they touched the “skin” it had the texture and consistency of cold pudding. Hikari recoiled even worse than she did.

“Keep going! I’ll try and stop it!” Takeru called from the other side, holding up his phone as it glowed with golden light. MagnaAngemon burst out of where Angemon fell and rushed into the side of the monster, sending it back a few feet.

Miyako and Hikari made it to the woods, trying to find a defensible position. They burst into a clearing and Aquilamon landed next to her.

“This one is much stronger than the last.” They folded their wings and rested for a second.

“Koushiro?” Miyako asked into her headset. “Koushiro, are you there, we’re being attacked.”

“Mi-ko-an? Le-clea-up-the channel.” Koushiro dipped in and out. “Could you repeat?”

“We found it and it’s attacking us!” Miyako yelled and Hikari hissed next to her. “Are you okay, Hikari-chan?”

“No. But we have to keep going. I don’t know how long Takeru-kun can hold it off.”

“I’ve got you, Hikari-chan.” Angewomon swooped her up in her arms.

“You need to be ready to fight, Angewomon! You can’t be distracted by me.” Hikari struggled to no avail.

“Hikari-chan,” Miyako commanded. “I know you are strong, and you want to fight, but protecting you is important too.”

“We don’t even know what it’s trying to do beyond destroy random things!”

“I know what it wanted last time! I _won’t_ let it get you!”

Hikari clammed up, the fight going out of her. “Okay. But if it’s really coming after me - I can be bait.”

Miyako hated this plan. Angewomon double hated this plan. But if they could control where the monster would go next based on Hikari, that was an advantage. Aquilamon took their position in the air, ready to pounce when they sprung their hasty trap. Takeru managed to pin the creature in the road, but that kept having more and more collateral damage.

“Takeru?”

“Is Hikari-chan safe?”

“We have a plan. Retreat into the grove.”

“Got it.”

She watched as Takeru fell back, and waited not so patiently for the perfect moment to strike.

“Let’s go, Aquilamon!” They dove together, but this thing appeared to almost have armor and Aquilamon’s claws bounced off it.

Angewomon swooped in, using her superior firepower, and yet still not bringing it down.

Worse, it seemed to be actively ignoring them, and pushed them aside, moving with a sudden burst of speed and making a break for where Hikari hid.

Miyako knew it. She knew she shouldn’t have agreed to leaving her. She had to stop this thing, _now_.

It tore the tree Hikari was using as cover right out of the ground. It grabbed her, wrapping around her multiple times. Miyako saw red.

“I’ll save you, Hikari-chan!” Miyako jumped off Aquilamon onto the monster’s back, fighting through the sickening unpleasantness to punch it herself.

Above her, Aquilamon glowed along with her phone in her pocket, growing and changing. Their wings flexed back and burst into white, growing an extra set of legs just front of them.

Hippogriffomon joined their partner in her assault, first cutting Hikari out of her bindings and sinking claws deep into what might be a face on the enemy.

Miyako was thrown off and away, caught by Angewomon before she rejoined the brawl.

“Miyako-chan!” Hikari ran, helping Miyako to her feet. They watched as their Digimon worked together, and instead of sending it out through a gate, one of Angewomon’s arrows sank into its back while Hippogriffomon shrieked out a blinding heat wave Miyako could feel from meters away.

It didn’t disappear in a burst of data like other Digimon. Instead, it oozed into the ground, creating a spot where all the foliage instantly died.

“Miyako-chan...” Hikari collapsed, and Miyako caught her, gently lowering them both to their knees.

“Did you get hurt?”

“No. I’m fine. I knew you would keep me safe. I knew you would save me.”

Miyako stared up at hippogriffomon, looking dazzling with pure white feathers. Like an angel. She and hikari matched better now, more in sync than they ever were before. Hikari somehow had faith that Miyako could do this at all, face the darkness and become stronger for it.

Something crunched in the forest behind her and Miyako braced to fight, but Takeru stepped out, looking shaken.

She’d totally forgotten he was here in those last few seconds.

Holding Hikari like this, protecting her from the Darkness, that was Takeru’s thing. She’d kind of stolen his moment. Which was a stupid thought, because the important thing was Hikari’s safety.

She couldn’t bring herself to regret it anyway.

Koushiro had at least gotten heaps of data from the attack, and called everyone back to home base.

“I have a couple of ideas about how the slips between the worlds are being made.” He explained once everyone was back. “They aren’t _really_ gates, they’re more like tears.”

“They look like claw marks.” Ken was so quiet Miyako barely heard him. “Like something is tearing the fabric of reality.”

“That’s a very good metaphor, actually. But I’m going to work through the night to find a way to stitch them up and make a firewall to stop it from recurring. I’ve got a lot to work with, thanks to everyone.”

“We should all get some rest for now.” Taichi commanded. “That includes you, Koushiro. You do better work well-rested.”

Koushiro looked like he wanted to complain, but Mimi was right there bullying him into at least taking a nap.

When Miyako and Hikari got to their room, Hikari pulled Miyako onto her bed and cuddled close. Miyako’s ribs ached just a bit from the crushing hug. She gulped, not sure what to do.

But if Hikari needed this from her, this is what would happen. She just wanted her to be happy, to be safe and comfortable and loved.

Miyako loved her so much.

She cried into Hikari’s hair, unable to sleep even as Hikari managed to fall into what seemed like a peaceful slumber.


	8. Greenery Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a big, terrible cliffhanger in this chapter. Just uh. Letting you. Know.

Ken was like a zombie as he walked to their room, missing more than one turn in the hotel. Each time Daisuke would gently grab his wrist, guiding him back the right way. He tried not to feel too scared, when he and Ken got into an emotional spiral around each other it could get ugly, especially one like this.

But he was. Daisuke was  _ terrified _ that something would happen to Ken. They’d spent ten years together recovering from everything that had already happened. Now that  _ place _ was trying to take him away again.

He would  _ never _ let it.

He deposited Ken on their bed, but Ken didn’t lie down. He sat up, staring unblinkingly at the mirror on the wall, face set.

“You should try to get some rest.” Daisuke put his hands on the buttons of Ken’s shirt and cocked his head with a silent question.

“I’m not going to sleep.”

“You really should try to get as much as you -“

“I’m not going to sleep because if I do I’ll have another nightmare. It’ll...get in me more, Daisuke. I  _ can’t _ go to sleep.”

Daisuke refused to believe that.

“It’s the truth!” Ken snapped at Daisuke’s thought.

“Do you  _ know _ that? Did Koushiro find out something he didn’t share with the rest of the class?”

“I know because it’s  _ my head _ !” Ken knocked Daisuke’s hand off and stomped away, radiating frustration.

“Let me in there then.” Daisuke sidled up behind him, wrapping him up in a hug, letting his forehead fall to Ken’s shoulder. “Let me help.”

Ken acquiesced, Daisuke snaked his hand under Ken’s shirt and physically grasped just over his heart, mind and body glowing with Ken. His thoughts were racing, and Daisuke was pulled along for the ride.

Everything

His fault

Too much damage piling up

Wrong, bad, broken

Only capable of hurting others

“You know that’s not true.” Daisuke cut through Ken’s self-admonition.

“Hikari-chan was doing  _ fine _ before this. I - wasn’t.”

“You were doing loads better!”

“Was I?”

Through all the therapy, confronting, trying Ken still fell back into his own personal darkness. He didn’t even  _ really _ talk about it, unable to confront the reality of it.

That it was his fault.

Osamu gone

Hikari in danger

Daisuke shackled down

All because of him

“I  _ love _ you, Ken.” Daisuke led Ken to the bed, managed to get him to lie down. “I’m not trapped.”

“Is that not what I’ve done? How are you supposed to leave me when you want to, when you finally get tired of this?”

“That’s never gonna happen.”

“I’m disgusting.”

Daisuke straddled Ken’s waist, placing both of Ken’s hands over his heart. “Follow me.” Daisuke laid a path of affection down for Ken, every little thing he adored about Ken bare and open for him to follow back into the light.

Ken wept as Daisuke’s feelings wrapped around him, held him close, embracing even the jagged edges of pain and sorrow.

Daisuke loved him. Daisuke would always love him, and maybe always had.

But that didn’t change the situation, right here and now.

“...Okay, I’m...coming out of it.” Ken sat up against the headboard, just a bit uncomfortably low so his head was totally unsupported.

“Ready to go to sleep?”

“No.” Ken slid his legs back off the bed. “I’m still not sleeping.”

“Ken -“

“I - maybe it isn’t  _ my fault _ . But I’ll still have a nightmare if I sleep.”

Daisuke took Ken’s hand. “What makes you think that?”

“Because I had one last night.” Ken ducked his head, and Daisuke tucked his hair behind his ear to keep looking at Ken’s face, lines of anguish obvious.

“Two in a row is unusual, but -“

“It wasn’t two in a row.”

Daisuke caressed Ken’s cheek with the back of his hand. “It’s okay, I know you had one the night before we left.”

“No, I mean. It was more than two in a row.”

Daisuke’s hand stilled. “More?”

“I’ve had a nightmare every day we haven’t had sex for the past month before we left for this trip. And not even that helped last night.” Ken doubled over, hugging his knees to his chest. “I thought - I thought I was just anxious about going on a beach trip. They weren’t so bad at first, but they just kept getting worse.”

“Why did you hide this from me?  _ How _ did you hide this?”

“I didn’t want to  _ worry _ you. You’re always  _ worried _ about me, you’re always taking care of me.”

“I  _ like _ to do that, you know.” Daisuke pet Ken’s hair, trying to figure out what to do to help. Many of his usual techniques didn’t seem effective. “What are they about?”

Ken crumpled further in to himself somehow, leaving Daisuke to try and comfort him with soft caresses up and down his spine.

“I have to tell Izumi-san. I should have today. But I’m a coward.”

Ken started slipping away from Daisuke, stepping down into the depths of guilt again. Daisuke sunk to the floor so he could get at his face, peppering his forehead with light kisses. “You can practice with me. Then we can figure out what to say together.”

“They  _ hurt _ , Daisuke.”

A pain inside his head, that left no marks. Reverberations of the past pulling him under and into himself, falling back into old habits.

He could hear the waves, almost inaudible.

“Ken.” Daisuke forced his presence into Ken’s conscious. “You’re here with me.”

Daisuke was the light, leading him out of his darkness.

A crawling pathetic thing clinging to someone so much better.

The Dark Ocean didn't care. It would always be there, waiting for him to slip.

“I’m never going to stop having these episodes.”

“This is...not a normal depressive episode, Ken.”

“What if it is? What if this whole thing is  _ my fault _ ? What if - the only reason it can even connect is because of - of my emotions?”

“No.” Daisuke’s surety radiated off him, convinced Ken for a little bit that it wasn’t him. “None of this is your fault. I’m going to stop the thing responsible, and then you’re going to be okay, and even when you aren’t, it won’t ever be like this again.”

Ken kissed Daisuke, needing that physical comfort along with the thoughts from Daisuke bouncing around his head. It was soft, warm, gentle, Daisuke letting Ken take the lead. Daisuke’s passion and roaring righteous fury came out, buried Ken under the protective feeling. Ken let Daisuke see his fears and guilt, usually held so tight he couldn’t reach them even if he tried.

Daisuke pulled back and wiped tears from his eyes. “You really aren’t going to sleep, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then I’m staying up with you.”

Daisuke helped Ken stay awake all night. He made some of the instant coffee in their hotel room for the both of them. He tried to distract Ken from the looming nightmares with movies and music, and had resorted to shaking Ken every time he even seemed like he was starting to doze off by sunrise.

The two of them were an actual wreck by the time morning came, but at least Ken hadn’t had a nightmare.

“Are you ready for this?” Daisuke squeezed Ken’s hand, standing outside the Chosen’s suite.

“Yeah. I have to be.”

Koushiro was already awake, but the bags under his eyes weren’t pronounced enough to indicate an all-nighter. “Ichijouji-san, Daisuke-kun, you’re up early.”

“I have to tell you something, Izumi-san. It’s about the - the Dark Ocean.”

Ken sat next to Koushiro and told him everything he could remember from his dreams for the past month. Daisuke stayed with him, providing an anchor.

Ken talked about the cold, the apathy, the great emptiness that gnawed at his insides.

Ken talked about the violence, the way he was cut open and hurt, flayed by the sand.

Ken talked about the shapeless creatures he couldn’t quite remember, the way they touched him in ways he didn’t want to think about, their not-hands on his skin.

Koushiro absorbed it all, trying to extract useful data, and prodding Ken in ways that made Daisuke’s hackles rise.

“And have you had nightmares like this prior to a month ago?”

“...No. Not like this.”

“You didn’t think it was unusual enough to comment on before?”

“...I just. I didn’t want to think about them.”

“It just seems strange, the timing.”

“We were going on a beach trip! He has PTSD! Lay off it, Koushiro!” Daisuke tightened his hold on the back of Ken’s chair.

Koushiro pivoted, brought up something on his computer, some weird language Daisuke had never seen before. “I’ve found files like this all over the data of the creature we fought yesterday. Can you read it?”

Ken glanced at the screen, his eyes widened a fraction and he quickly looked away. “It hurts.”

“I’m sorry. Can you try?”

“Don’t ask him to do that!” Daisuke knew he was yelling too much, he was going to wake someone up, but he didn’t care.

“Daisuke.” Ken commanded his attention. “I have to do this. I have to try.”

Daisuke breathed, trying to calm down as Ken forced himself to look and try to read. He kept clutching his head, and Daisuke saw the telltale signs of a massive headache coming on, but still Ken kept looking, because he had convinced himself it was his problem to fix.

Finally, Ken stopped looking, and stared at the ground. “I don’t understand.”

“What does it say?”

“It just...it’s just a bunch of jumbled letters. T, G, A, C, mixed together over and over.”

“That’s....weird.” Koushiro turned away from Ken almost dismissively and Daisuke quietly raged.

Ken was the most important person in the world. Why was Koushiro doing this, putting him through extra trauma when the enemy was actively stalking them?

“I have a theory.”

Ken and Daisuke both looked at Koushiro, one haunted and one angry.

“You’re the only person to ever open a gate to the Dark Ocean. I think that has created a connection in the other direction as well, and it is now using your mind as a conduit. That’s why you’re dreaming about it. It’s possible that it fed off your growing fears about this trip to start making that connection stronger.”

“So it is my fault.”

Ken stood and fled from Daisuke’s grabbing embrace.

Daisuke followed the crumbling psyche of Ken, he had to help, he had to save him. Had to convince him this wasn’t  _ his fault _ . He wasn’t responsible for the evil that  _ used _ him.

Ken was on the elevator, and Daisuke couldn’t wait. He took the stairs three at a time, trying to keep up with the descending elevator he could vaguely feel through his and Ken’s connection. He didn’t make it before Ken left, walking out of the hotel, and Daisuke followed.

Daisuke followed through the streets of the city center, dodging too many cars and too many tourists without a care in the world.

Ken had stopped, maybe a block ahead of him, but he wasn’t calming down. If anything, he dipped further, staccato jumping fear. He was turning around, heading back in Daisuke’s direction, thank God.

The bond in Daisuke’s heart  _ snapped _ and he couldn’t feel Ken anymore.

He couldn’t feel anything.

No more comforting heartbeat just below his.

No more exact knowledge of where he was.

Daisuke couldn’t reach out and feel Ken’s feelings, share his own, there was nothing there anymore.

He ran as fast as he could towards the last place he felt Ken’s presence.

On the floor was Ken’s phone, and he was nowhere to be found. The air was significantly colder in just a small square meter of space.

Daisuke fell to his knees and screamed Ken’s name into the sky.


	9. In Bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ken is in the Dark Ocean. Daisuke deals with losing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know those Warnings that have been there since I started posting this? They're here. You can skip the first and third parts, if you wanna.

Ken groaned as he awoke from a blissfully nightmare-free unconsciousness. His arms were heavy, too heavy, like he’d somehow slept on both of them wrong and had pinched a nerve in his shoulder. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn’t.

He wasn’t on his and Daisuke’s bed. He wasn’t on anything at all. He was floating, and something cold and slimy was wrapped around his waist.

Ken realized he was completely naked as the  _ thing _ around him caressed bare skin, and Ken tried to thrash out of its grip.

His legs weren’t in much better shape than his arms. They felt like they were being pushed through molasses, and Ken came to the sudden horrid realization he was floating because he was  _ underwater _ .

He started holding his breath, even though for the past few minutes he hadn’t had trouble at all.

Something very similar to the thing around his middle wrapped around his neck, and Ken screamed as it touched where the dark seed still lay just beneath the surface. No sound came out, swallowed by the ocean, and Ken, now aware he was breathing water, choked despite being able to.

“Millenniummon’s Toy.”

His eyes shot open involuntarily and Ken found himself staring at what could potentially be called a face. There were two sharp red strips that might be eyes, too many teeth, teeth everywhere, and where there wasn’t teeth there were tentacles sprouting and falling and spinning in the water.

Ken was dying. He was going to die, right here and now, dissolve into the crushing water all around him.

“Calm yourself.” Some of the tentacles in front of him waved and words came out, and Ken’s mind blanked.

The forced calm made Ken aware of the worst thing of all.

He couldn’t feel Daisuke’s heartbeat.

He couldn’t even cry, scream,  _ mourn _ because his thoughts were being herded, caught and bound up. Ken thought about how much he wanted to see Daisuke, and something kneecapped that thought down, trussed it up like a wild animal.

“Millenniummon will not be happy if I use you, you are Its after all. I always knew It would be ungrateful for my part in activating your Seed, but It is not here. My second choice, you, are.”

Tentacles inched up Ken’s legs, coiling around him from feet to hips. They pulled him apart, and Ken’s cries of  _ no no no no no _ were beat down inside and outside.

“You will birth a glorious army for me, along with my Failed Queen.”

A tentacle butted up against Ken’s back, and he screamed, trying desperately to get some control of his arms back. He fought, through the bindings filling up his head, and grabbed at the tentacle around his neck, pulling at it to no avail.

“Don’t fight.”

His arms froze. He literally  _ couldn’t _ fight anymore. But he had to, had to get away, find Daisuke and fix their link.  _ Maybe he’s already dead _ galloped across his mind and it was allowed to run free by the darkness edging into his head.

No. Daisuke wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. The shadows ate his attempts at self-soothing like candy, leaving Ken with just  _ he’s dead _ .

The tentacle pierced his body. Ken did the only thing he could anymore, physically restrained and mentally attacked. He screamed and screamed as this thing violated him, and then he couldn’t even do that as another tentacle forced its way down his throat.

_ Maybe I’m already dead _ .

Ken felt the tentacle squirt something inside of him and pull out, quickly replaced by a different one. Ken got back control of his left arm and tried to get the tentacle off his neck, where it was gently sweeping the nape of his neck in a mockery of gentleness.

“How do you keep fighting?”

One of the tentacles attached near the creature’s eye wrapped around his wrist and forced his arm up and back at a painful angle. Ken was sure his arm was now broken, because any other thought was suppressed. It helped to distract from the pain between his legs, at least.

“You should not be able to resist anything. Perhaps you are stronger than I thought, and should have been my first choice all along. Perhaps I was a fool to not take you when you first wandered into my waters, Millenniummon's wrath or no.”

Ken felt as the second tentacle to rape him finished and a third took its place, and started crying. He willed himself to bite down on the thing in his mouth, at least be able to fight back somehow, but it didn’t even seem to phase the monster.

Ken tried desperately to keep thinking that Daisuke was out there, trying to save him, Daisuke was going to save him like he said he would, even as the tentacles ravaged his mind as well, barely letting him hold on to anything for more than a second.

* * *

* * *

“Ken.” Daisuke clutched Ken’s phone to his chest, doubled over on the sidewalk. Pedestrians gave him a wide berth and many side-eyes.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Ken was gone.

Daisuke’s body felt alien. His heart had been ripped out, and now there wasn’t enough to keep pumping blood through him. Ken wasn’t  _ anywhere _ .

Why? Daisuke knew he could feel when Ken was in the Digital World. Why did the ocean block him? Was Ken already -

Daisuke shook away that thought, replaced by one even worse.

The Dark Ocean probably needed Ken, to use him. Which meant he was alive, wherever he was. Daisuke had to figure out how to get to him before anything else happened.

His first attempt to stand up failed. Daisuke’s inner ear rang with a massive tinging noise, and he couldn't figure out where his body was. He knocked into the sides of buildings as he wandered down the street, nearly getting hit by a car.

He reached out to Ken instinctually and the ragged ends of their severed link had him doubling over again.

The link that made them one fluttered in a nonexistent wind.

Daisuke realized as he ran face-first into a pole that he was going the wrong way. The hotel was the other way. He needed help for this. He needed Koushiro to figure out how to get there, Hikari might be able to open it, Takeru, Iori and Miyako to provide firepower.

He needed to tell Wormmon Ken had been taken right in front of him  _ again _ . Daisuke had failed,  _ again _ . He couldn’t protect Ken from shit.

Daisuke’s proprioception was evening out by the time he made it back to the hotel. It made him even sicker than he had been. It meant he was  _ getting used to _ Ken being Gone, and that was unacceptable. But he couldn't fight like this.

He stopped by his and Ken’s room first, greeted by their Digimon, blissfully unaware of what had just happened not 15 minutes ago.

“Daisuke! What’s wrong?” V-mon clung to his leg.

“Where’s Ken-chan?”

Daisuke picked up Wormmon and held them close, memories of seeing Ken hold them in the same way filling his head. He buried his face in Wormmon’s oddly soft and cuddly body.

“Dai-chan?” Wormmon’s little pincers held him back. “Where’s Ken-chan?”

Daisuke held onto Wormmon, hoping that maybe he could rekindle the link with their help. Wormmon was the last thing of Ken’s he had left.

“He was taken. He’s - he’s  _ gone _ .”

“No! Ken-chan can’t be - “

Daisuke let himself cry with Wormmon for a few minutes. He felt V-mon wrapping their tiny arms as much around his side as they could, and pulled them close as well. He wished they could Jogress right now, and his soul ached.

“I have to save him.”

“We can do it, Daisuke! I know we can.”

“You’ve done it before. You can save Ken-chan, just like you did before.”

Yes. He could. Daisuke stood, still shaky without a second heartbeat, still not entirely sure where his body was, but he could do this. He’d done it before, and he could do it again.

Daisuke burst into the Chosen’s suite, finding everyone back in the room, some more awake than others.

“Daisuke! Is Ken okay?” Taichi looked like he’d just been woken up. “Koushiro said he got upset and ran off.”

“He’s gone.” Daisuke spat out. “Of course he was upset, Koushiro was needling him and now he’s  _ gone _ .”

Daisuke’s anger didn’t have anyone evening it out anymore. There wasn’t the calm reassuring presence of Ken under whatever Daisuke was feeling, and his emotions were flaring wildly.

“This is your fault, Koushiro, and you’re going to fix it.” Daisuke slammed Ken’s phone down on the desk. “Open a gate to the Dark Ocean.”

No one said anything. Koushiro’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean...?”

“Open a gate! I have to - “

Hikari’s hand grabbed Daisuke’s elbow.

“We don’t know how, Daisuke-kun.”

“You have to know how! You’ve been there!”

“...I didn’t open a gate. Only Ken-kun has done that.”

“He did it with  _ this _ !” Daisuke brandished Ken’s digivice-capable phone. “We just have to do what he did with it, and then it’ll work.”

“Do you...know what he did?”

Daisuke did not. He only knew it hurt, and Ken didn’t want to talk about it, and Daisuke was an idiot who let him keep huge, important secrets about how to follow him where Daisuke couldn’t go.

Normally, Ken would fill him up with love and affection when Daisuke started down this route, but Ken wasn’t here and Daisuke was stupid, stupid, the worst, Daisuke was nothing but an idiot.

Hikari sat him down. “We’ll figure this out. He’ll be okay.”

Daisuke was too stupid to figure this out. He was all action but there wasn't any way to know what to do, and he had to do something  _ right now _ because every second Ken was in that place was too long.

Takeru. Takeru knew how to get into the Dark Ocean, he’d found Hikari back when Daisuke couldn’t, when he young and even stupider than now. The others were crowded around Koushiro as he tried to come up with an assault, and so Daisuke was able to pull Takeru away and into a side bedroom.

“How did you find Hikari-chan?”

“What?”

“When we were in Elementary School. You found her and got into the Ocean without having to open a gate.”

“...I did. But this is different - “

“How did you  _ find _ her?”

Takeru looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Daisuke-kun, I know what you’re going through, but - “

“You have  _ no idea _ what I’m going through, Takeru! You and Iori don’t have  _ anything _ !”

“I know what it’s like when someone you care about gets taken into the Dark Ocean!”

Daisuke recoiled like he’d been slapped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

Takeru sighed, putting a comforting hand on Daisuke’s shoulder. “I don’t think you just wandering the boardwalk and hoping is going to work this time. I’m pretty sure it only worked for me because of my crest.”

“Then come with me. Please. I have to get to Ken. I have to get to him  _ now _ .”

“I...want to destroy what’s in the Dark Ocean as much as you. But we need  _ everyone _ together. You can’t just run off half-cocked.”

Daisuke absolutely could.  _ He _ had to save Ken, no one else.

He let Takeru lead him back to the main group, where Koushiro sat at his desk, head in his hands.

“I don’t know. I’ve been researching and experimenting on how to  _ close _ the tears, not how to open a gate so we could go there.”

“What if we destabilize the Digital World? We could slip in that way,” Miyako said.

“Even if we could do that, we can’t  _ destabilize _ the Digital World. It’s far too dangerous.” Koushiro suddenly snapped back to attention, typing away. 

“I’m just spitballing it’s a way we’ve gotten in before!”

Miyako. Miyako had followed Hikari and Ken in. She could help him. He knew he looked like a crazy person as he grabbed Miyako’s wrist and pulled her away, whispering.

“What’s your idea?”

Miyako was giving him the saddest sympathetic look and Daisuke fell into a pit of shame that no one was catching and helping him out of.

“I don’t - I really am just brainstorming, I don’t even know how we’d remake dark towers and how many we’d need, plus...it was also interacting with the Holy Stones, and Koushiro is right. We can’t destroy those.”

“We can if we have to. The Digital World can just regrow them again.”

“We can’t do that.” Miyako pat his arm in a ridiculous attempt to reassure. “But Koushiro and I will figure out how to open the gate as fast as we can, then all of us can save Ken. Together.”

Miyako left him in Mimi’s arms and Daisuke shook. Where was the urgency? Ken was in the place that  _ activated his Dark Seed _ . What if - flashes of Ken, dead-eyed with a flower bursting out of his head, swept across Daisuke’s mind. He couldn’t let that happen.

Daisuke came to the terrible realization he might be the only one who  _ knew _ what happened Ken’s first trip to the Dark Ocean. He probably hadn’t opened up to anyone else about it.

Daisuke stared at Ken’s phone, his crest etched onto the back. This could get him there, he just knew it, if he could only figure out  _ how _ . But none of the other Chosen were  _ helping _ him. Didn’t they understand?

Taichi. Taichi would understand, with his connection to Yamato. Daisuke assured Mimi he just wanted to talk to Taichi, and headed towards him.

“Taichi-senpai.”

Taichi started from his contemplation, staring out the window. “Daisuke. How are you holding up?”

“He’s gone, Taichi-senpai.” Daisuke’s voice sounded far too broken to be his.

“We’ll get him back.” Taichi hugged Daisuke to his chest and Daisuke wished it was Ken. “We’re all working together.”

“I can’t feel him anymore. Ken is really -  _ gone _ .”

Taichi went through a full-body shiver. “You can’t - nothing?”

“I can’t even hear his  _ heart _ .”

“Oh, Daisuke, I’m so sorry.” Taichi rubbed soothing circles on his back like he was Daisuke’s mom, comforting him after a nightmare.

Ken was physically in his nightmares right now. Daisuke didn’t deserve this comfort, not with Ken going through so much worse. He pushed Taichi away.

“I’m going to get some air.”

Daisuke left the rest of the Chosen again, taking V-mon and Wormmon with him as he left the hotel, heading toward the closest beach.

If Takeru had opened up a gate while looking for Hikari, Daisuke could looking for Ken. He  _ had to _ .

* * *

* * *

“This wasn’t our deal, Dagomon.” A voice Ken hadn’t heard in almost ten years boomed from somewhere near where his captor’s head presumably was. A chill ran up his spine.

Dagomon. That was the name of the monster. And Demon was here, because  _ Ken _ had sent him to the Dark Ocean all those years ago.

“Oh?” Dagomon barely registered the intrusion.

“You promised me Ichijouji Ken.”

Ken whimpered at the implications of Dagomon ‘promising’ him to Demon. Would it be the same pain, so bad he could barely even feel it anymore? Or would it be a whole new kind of pain, since Demon wanted the Dark Seed in his neck?

“And you promised me the Child of Light.”

“Am I to be blamed for the incompetence of your children?”

He wasn’t stopping. This thing - Dagomon - was just nonchalantly having a conversation while ripping Ken in two. It hurt -

“You can have it when I receive the Child of Light. I suggest you get it before the Miraculous One performs its namesake.”

Miraculous. Daisuke. His miracle.

Daisuke was alive, and Dagomon thought he could save him. Ken clung to that thought like a lifeline.

“I’m not worried about that insolent brat.” Demon’s voice slowly came from further and further upward. “You’re never going to get what you want from him, though. Just some friendly advice.”

“I used the Agent of Chaos just fine.”

“Ichijouji Ken doesn’t have the right  _ parts _ .”

He choked on the tentacle forced into his mouth. Parts?

“Lying will not convince me to let you have it earlier.”

Ken broke. He was being torn apart while two monsters talked nonchalantly about who got to continue to brutalize him.

“I realize you know very little about humans, but the fact that you don’t know they need a  _ uterus _ and he doesn’t have one is sad.”

For the first time since Dagomon had started, it pulled the tentacle out of Ken and didn’t replace it.

“...You’re lying.”

“I am not. You might as well give him to me, so I can get some  _ actual use _ out of the Seed inside him.”

Dagomon laughed, and Ken’s brain split in two as it reverberated through him. He was bent in half and yet another tentacle found his entrance and pain and blood pouring out floated around him in the water.

“You may have it when you fulfill your side of our deal, and not a second sooner. I know better than to believe you keep your promises or tell the truth, Demon.”

Ken was left alone with Dagomon again, torn apart from the inside.

He didn’t want to think about the fact that it was trying to get him  _ pregnant _ . He didn’t want to think about what it would do when it finally figured out Demon was right. He didn’t want to go with Demon, didn’t want the Dark Seed reactivated or whatever Demon wanted.

He gently touched the frayed ends of his connection to Daisuke and wept.

* * *

* * *

Daisuke finally made it to the beach, looking out over the bright blue-green ocean. He willed it to turn dark, so he could jump in and reconnect with Ken.

He held up Ken’s phone to the sky, earning some very weird looks for passers-by. Nothing was happening.

Daisuke tried to think about what else Ken did, what he had to do. It seemed like he’d been in pain.

Daisuke pinched himself and tried again, still nothing.

He found a bench and sat down, V-mon and Wormmon cuddling on either side of him.

There had to be a way.

Thinking was never Daisuke’s strong suit, but he had to figure out how to  _ do _ this. Ken was waiting for him, who knows what was being  _ done _ to him, and Daisuke had to stop it. He couldn’t let Ken be taken and used again, he couldn’t stand the way Ken’s eyes glazed over and his mind went blank when Oikawa was mentioned, he had to  _ stop it _ this time.

Daisuke pulled at where Ken was supposed to be, and felt just the tiniest blip. He couldn’t make out an emotion, but something was there. Daisuke jolted up.

Ken was calling for him.

Daisuke called as much of his own crest as he could, just like Takeru said he had. He didn’t have Hope, but he had something better. He held Ken’s phone out, reached out and scrambled to find him. Something began to open up in front of him, he could almost see Ken, looking like he was in pain, his eyes empty.

Ken called to him, and Daisuke answered, every time.

He demanded for the gate to the Dark Ocean to open, his mind screaming, and pain bloomed inside it. The phone in his hand was glowing, it was  _ working _ , he could do this.

Daisuke fell backwards and a line of darkness flew out of Ken’s phone, cutting across the sky. The line grew and grew, pulling apart wildly. Dark branches ricocheted out from the growing tear, and the sky was swallowed up by the Ocean.


	10. The Gate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter so much but I've been wrestling with it for almost two weeks and I ended up splitting the outline in two so the next chapter will also probably be a bit shorter, also there's 12 now instead of 11, might go up again.

The sky was so blue, clouds floating by carelessly, white and fluffy and without a hint of risk of rain.

It was strange. None of the outer world fit Hikari’s inside, churning with shadows that threatened to pour out of her mouth and swallow up the room. She instinctually sought Miyako, locking eyes with her. Her heart felt stronger, beating more pronounced through her.

Maybe she should let herself fall, stop scrambling back from the edge. Maybe that was how she could help Ken.

Miyako marched over and took her hands. “What are you thinking about?”

“How to help Ken-kun.”

Miyako sighed, eyes closing. “Yeah. I wish there was something more I could do, too. But I don’t even know how I ended up in the distortion with you.”

Hikari’s arm twitched, wanting to cup Miyako’s fallen visage, kiss away that frown and the pinpricks of tears. Her palms were smooth and soft above her knuckles.

“I’ve figured out something.” Koushiro interrupted their bubble of a moment by the bay windows, and they turned in unison towards him.

The rest of the group also stopped their quiet side conversations as Koushiro pulled up something on his computer.

“This is a Digimon’s data.” He pointed at a series of 0’s and 1’s on the right screen. “It looks a lot like our traditional computer data, and is even written in binary. This, however -“

A second window popped up, with a garbled series of characters. Numbers and letters mixed together, and Hikari’s head hurt looking at it. “This is data from a creature of the Dark Ocean.”

“Hold on.” Jou stepped forward. “That is only using the letters we write DNA in.”

“I thought the exact same thing, Jou-san. That’s because this is  _ mimicking _ organics.”

“Mimicking?” Mimi asked, hands covering her mouth and shaking.

“Yes. Digimon are computer data that have obtained sentience. When they enter the Real World, they remain data despite the pseudo-proteins that make up their physical bodies.” Koushiro nodded at the cluster of Armadimon, Hawkmon, Tailmon and Patamon on one of the beds. “But the creature from the Dark Ocean was actually partially organic.”

“Wait, aren’t we digitized when we enter the Digital World?” Iori chimed in.

“Yes, but not like this. Parts of us, like our clothes, seem to react to our brain data and change in reaction to that, but mostly we remain organic. The Digital World doesn’t fundamentally change what we  _ are _ . We don’t have random code slapped into our DNA like this creature seems to.”

“How does this help us destroy it?” Takeru said.

Koushiro continued without addressing Takeru’s question. “The thing is - the Dark Ocean creature  _ looks _ like it’s just a regular mix of Digimon Data and DNA. But it isn’t. It is  _ neither _ Data nor Organic, not really, and I believe it mimics them in order to be able to interact with our universes.”

“Can we disrupt that interaction?” Takeru again.

“That’s why it has such trouble actually getting in. It is  _ wrong _ . As I’m sure those of you who fought it yesterday can attest.”

“How do we  _ destroy _ it?” Takeru finally exploded, slamming his hands on the desk and Koushiro scooted back.

“Hey, Takeru, we’ll get there.” Yamato put a hand on Takeru’s shoulder, but he didn’t relent, still glaring at nothing in particular on the wall behind Koushiro.

“We can’t waste our time waxing philosophical about what that thing was, Ken-kun is trapped there, let’s figure out how to  _ fight _ it!”

The ocean crashed on the shore. Hikari closed her eyes and felt the sand beneath her. Cold air swirled around her, contrasted by the feeling of a palm on her chest. Miyako’s voice cracked the sky, muted colorless gray replaced by the brown of her eyes.

“Hikari-chan!”

Miyako, Taichi and Takeru were all gathered around her where she lay on the floor. She felt Miyako’s hand settled over her heart.

“ _ That _ is why we need to understand the Dark Ocean.” Koushiro sounded largely unfazed by Hikari’s fainting. “It is attacking our very feelings, the negativity inside ourselves. It latches on and pulls, and just because it’s only been Hikari-san and Ken-kun so far doesn’t mean it will end with them.”

Takeru stood after helping Hikari sit up. “So you know how to stop it from getting at Hikari-chan?”

“...No. But I know it needs a conduit. Things from the Dark Ocean cannot exist in the Real World. That’s actually why most of us can’t  _ see _ the creatures. They’re not able to fully become part of this world, they hijack our fears and sadness and - apparently - have figured out some DNA sequences. I don’t know where those are from.”

“Are you saying we just have to stop being afraid and sad? Because that’s dumb!” Mimi’s voice raised to nearly a screech.

“I realize that’s not feasible. But  _ knowing _ that is what they attack can help us launch an assault.  _ And _ \- figure out how to open a gate to rescue Ken-kun.”

Hikari felt some of the weight lift from her shoulders. She looked around the room, trying to find Daisuke, share some joy at the good news.

He was gone.

“Where’s Daisuke-kun?”

“Oh? He went to get some air a while ago,” Taichi said, standing and stretching. “It’s been a bit, though, I should probably look for him?”

“I’ll come with you.” Yamato knocked his knuckles against Taichi’s hand and threaded their fingers together, the two of them leaving as one.

Hikari felt deep trepidation. People kept leaving and not coming back. Something was wrong. They were being torn apart.

She slapped her own face a few times to focus back on what Koushiro was saying.

“I think if we tap into those negative feelings, we can open a gate to the Dark Ocean.”

“Suppose we do.” Iori stood from his seat near the digimon. “What then?”

“We fight, and we win,” Takeru said.

“How? We don’t have Imperialdramon until we get to Ichijouji-san.”

“We have other heavy hitters! Hikari-chan and I have gone to Ultimate before, and Miyako-san just reached Perfect.”

Jou sighed, head in his hands. “I feel so useless. Without Gomamon...I thought I’d gotten over missing him...”

“Hey, Jou, how about you, Sora-san and I get some food for everyone? You must be hungry.” Mimi shooed them out of the room. “That is something we can do, at least.”

Hikari took the now-empty chair across the desk from Koushiro, Miyako hovering over her shoulder.

“How are you feeling, Hikari-chan?”

“I’m better now. But...sounds like I have to feel worse.”

Koushiro refused to meet her eyes. “It is likely what we need.”

“I’ll fight with you, obviously.” Iori threw his hands out, a frustrated look on his face. “But Armadimon can only get to Adult without Jogress.”

“Then we can Jogress.”

“You and I both know Seraphimon is more powerful than Shakkoumon.”

Takeru clenched a fist. “You’re assuming Patamon and I can just -  _ choose _ to get to Ultimate.”

“Can you even Jogress?” Miyako interrupted the two of them.

Hikari wanted to. She wanted to feel Miyako’s heart, wanted to connect across space and understand her again.

“Can we?” She whispered to no one in particular.

“I don’t know! We can’t - can’t count on that. Without Ken-kun...we can’t count on Daisuke.”

Everyone went very quiet.

The sky outside began to darken, a tear splitting it in two, and everything went monochrome.

Hikari gulped. Maybe they wouldn’t have to figure out how to open a gate after all.

* * *

The beach beneath Daisuke’s feet didn’t  _ feel _ different from the one in the Real World. The scenery wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, cliffs overhanging and a line of raised wood to walk along the shore.

And yet, something was making the hairs on the back of Daisuke’s neck stand on end. It might be the way the sound didn’t line up, waves crashing too soft and too early, or the way he could see his own body losing color, leeched off and disappearing into the wind.

“Ken!” He shouted again, but nothing. He had to be here, somewhere in this vast beach and ocean.

“Looking for someone?” A deep voice came from behind him, and XV-mon jumped to defend him.

Demon floated just above the sand.

“Where’s Ken? What have you done to him?” Daisuke screamed, held back from attacking Demon himself only by XV-mon’s arm. “Let me go, XV-mon!”

“Me? I haven’t done anything to him.”

“Where is he?”

“Out there.” Demon pointed into the ocean with one claw. “I doubt you can reach where he is.”

Daisuke shifted his focus from Demon to the ocean, running out to where the waves lapped at his ankles before being stopped by XV-mon.

“Daisuke! What are you doing?”

He had to get to Ken. He needed to dive down and  _ save _ him.

“It would be amusing to watch you die.”

Daisuke glared at Demon. “What do you know?”

“I know what’s  _ happening _ to your precious Ichijouji Ken.”

That got his attention. Daisuke stepped out of the water, too cold and yet not wet  _ enough _ , gloopy and sticking to the skin just above his socks.

“What’s...happening?”

“He is being forced to worship Dagomon.”

Daisuke didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded very bad. He imagined Ken prostrate on the ground, bowing to some creature, and he had to  _ stop _ it. He eyed the ocean again.

“Dagomon?”

“The God of this world. You didn’t even know it existed, did you? You just knew of its Ocean.”

“How far down is he?”

Demon actually laughed at him, booming and echoing weirdly like the space was more enclosed than it should be, the air itself trapping noise around them.

“You will never get to him. Dagomon controls everything here, and it won’t  _ let _ you. It won’t give up its new Bride so easily.”

Daisuke’s heart sped up at that word choice. He remembered Hikari, telling them about how the creatures wanted her to be their “bride”, and froze.

“However,  _ I _ can trade for Ichijouji Ken,” Demon said, and Daisuke stared straight into the lights where eyes should be.

“What are you talking about?”

“There is someone Dagomon would trade its current prey for. And wouldn’t it be better for you if Ichijouji Ken was here, with me?”

“No! You’re a creep too!” Daisuke pointed a finger accusingly. “You want to fuck with his dark seed.”

“I do. But don’t we agree...it would be better if he were up here, and not down there? I’ll even sweeten the deal, let you see him and say goodbye.”

There was no way Daisuke would ever let Demon take Ken. But the attempted handoff was when he’d saved him ten years ago too. Could he really pull the same maneuver on Demon twice?

“What do you want?”

“It’s not about what I want, but what Dagomon wants.”

“Stop twisting words and tell me what you want me to do!”

XV-mon took a step back from him, eyes wide. Wormmon looked confused and scared.

“I want you to bring me Yagami Hikari, and then you can see your partner again before I take him.”

Daisuke would not trade one friend for another, and Ken would never forgive him if he did. But Demon didn’t know that.

“Okay. Let’s go back, XV-mon.” Daisuke picked up a nearly comatose Wormmon and grabbed XV-mon’s leg, who refused to launch back into the air and the tear in the sky that was the only source of blue in the whole world.

“Daisuke, we can’t -!”

“We have to save Ken, XV-mon!” Daisuke willed his partner to understand what he really meant, that they had to get back, he was out of his depth right now and this was at least a  _ plan _ instead of running around like the idiot he was.

XV-mon hesitated before launching off the ground and back through the gate.


	11. Koi no Bori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added some tags and something even worse happens to Ken I kept taking in and out oh god  
> Skip that last scene if you want to avoid stuff. Especially if you're trans, it could def be a trigger for dysphoria and brushing against some potentially transphobic tropes. Just. Be safe and careful and I'm going Through Some Stuff

The transition from the Dark Ocean to the Real World felt a bit like one was becoming static on TV. Daisuke shook his hands to try and regain some feeling in them, only being partially successful. The gate shook around them, and instead of closing it shuddered and opened up further.

Daisuke felt something brush past him and dart out, leaving a trail of some kind of dark particles. He caught some between his fingers and rubbed it, but nothing was actually there.

XV-mon landed on the nearest high-rise, and Daisuke stepped off their foot.

“Daisuke-chan, we aren’t really - going to  _ trade _ Hikari, are we?” Wormmon wiggled in his arms.

“Of course not! We’re going to finish what we should have done ten years ago.”

Daisuke felt something cold streak past him, bigger this time. The black floated in the air, and as he squinted it blinked out. The tear in the sky kept expanding.

“Oh shit.”

The world around Daisuke started to shift and deform, color being eaten off it. The tear started pushing down, and as it swallowed one of the higher buildings it grew faster, eating the Real World. Shadowy creatures followed in Daisuke’s wake, crashing to the ground and Daisuke could  _ see _ them, everyone could see them, or at least acted more like it on the street.

“I think...I think I might have fucked up.”

* * *

Hikari stood, standing next to the window as she watched the creatures jump out of the sky. The opening itself was alive, and malevolent, and  _ hungry _ . A monster smashed up against the windows and into the room with them.

She could vaguely hear Koushiro yelling about saving his work as Miyako grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the floor and letting the monster fly above them. Weird, pulsing wings hit the ceiling, making cracks in the stucco, and Angemon appeared in a flash of light.

They grappled in the middle of the room, breaking the beds and other pieces of scattered furniture, Angemon doing their best to keep it away from Koushiro and his desperate attempts to move his computers somewhere safer.

“Tailmon! Let’s join!”

“Wait!” Iori ran over to Koushiro, picking up some random wiring and boxes. “We have to get out of this room.”

Miyako kicked open the door to a side room while she held Hikari, wrapped around her shoulders. “Takeru, you get in here too!”

Hawkmon, Tailmon and Armadimon ducked into the room, but Takeru stayed out.

“Barricade the door. This will get messy.” He closed the door in their faces.

The sound of the battle on the other side was only slightly muffled. Hikari slid to the floor, Tailmon snuggling up against her. She just watched as Miyako and Iori tried to push a dresser over the doorway to no avail. It was bolted to the floor.

“Is there anything else we can use?” Miyako looked around frantically.

“We shouldn’t. Takeru-kun might still come in,” Hikari said, and Miyako locked on to her.

“....But he said to -“

“I don’t care what Takeru-kun said! He’s not dying for me!”

Miyako padded over to Hikari and sat down as well, on the other side from Tailmon. “He’s fine. Angemon is like, our most powerful Digimon.”

“That’s not quite true,” Tailmon said, “ _ I’m _ our most powerful singular Digimon now. Hikari-chan...”

Hikari hugged Tailmon close to her chest. “Are you ready to fight?”

“You can’t! You can’t just fight!” Miyako got to her hands and knees. “Don’t you see the  _ danger _ ?”

“Miyako-chan, I’ve been in danger since I was eight years old. I didn’t let others get hurt because of me then, and I won’t do it now.”

“But I can’t let you get hurt!”

“Then fight  _ with _ me.” Hikari glared into Miyako’s eyes, daring her to keep arguing, keep denying her.

Hikari realized, that Miyako was  _ scared _ . Scared for her, and trying to keep her as safe as she could, and Miyako’s eyes were filled with unshed tears because she  _ couldn’t _ feel things right now, they couldn’t afford it.

“I will fight  _ for _ you.” Miyako turned steely, finding Hawkmon. “Let’s go help Takeru-kun.”

Hikari stood as well, determined to join, but Koushiro grabbed her hand.

“I need to get in contact with Taichi-san and Yamato-san. Who knows where they are in all this.”

As annoyed as she was with this job being delegated to her, Hikari sat and helped Koushiro get his setup in working mobile order along with Iori.

“Did they take their communicators?”

“I...really hope so.” Koushiro tapped into the channel and called out, “Taichi-san? Yamato-san?”

Static. Hikari’s heart lurched.

No.

Taichi was fine.

Taichi had been through worse than this and survived.

He might not even have his communicator on him.

He always had it on him nowadays. That’s what a good ambassador did, always in touch.

Hikari gripped the carpet underneath her and tried to breathe.

“Koushiro? We’re a little busy!” Yamato’s voice crackled through the channel and Hikari relaxed muscles she didn’t even know she was clenching.

“What’s your status, Yamato-san?”

“Pretty bad! Fairly certain the sky is trying to eat us?” Yamato grunted as the sound of fists hitting goop could be heard in the background.

“Is Taichi-san alright?”

“Just busy!” Yamato cut out as more noises of a fight covered his yelling.

Hikari should be out there too, not hiding in this room, like she was a scared little girl again. She was scared. But she was a fighter, too.

She snapped the door open to find Angemon and Aquilamon pushing the creatures back out of the hole they’d made in the windows, Takeru and Miyako cheering them on.

“Hikari-chan!” Miyako turned around, her hair flying wildly. It would be artistic in a different setting.

“C’mon.” Hikari took Miyako’s hand. “Let’s get these monsters out of here.”

Hikari and Tailmon nodded at each other, and she jumped and shone with light, Angewomon helping the others push their attackers completely out of the building.

The Ocean in the sky was closer than ever.

“Hey, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I don’t think that’s stopping.” Takeru pointed up at where the top of a building across the street from them crossed the threshold and went dark. “And we’re on the top floor.”

“Koushiro-shachou!” Miyako ran into the other room, leaving Hikari with Takeru.

Takeru was breathing hard, holding his side.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a stitch.” Takeru’s glare didn’t let up even as he looked towards Hikari. “Let’s move.”

They collected Koushiro and Iori and their party started getting to the ground floor, at least further away from what was happening. Hikari could feel her heart speeding up uncomfortably, almost too loud.

The shadows were now everywhere, all around them, an army crawling over the landscape. Some of them twisted and started towards Hikari, but not all of them.

“Are they still coming after me?”

“I don’t know. Let’s assume they are.” Miyako let go of Hikari’s hand. “You should stay with Takeru-kun.”

And just like that, Miyako ran off as she called for Aquilamon to evolve into Hippogriffomon for the second time.

Hikari’s eye twitched. Now was not the time for splitting up. Or maybe it was, but she didn’t want to leave Miyako’s side either way.

“I’m going after her.”

“You shouldn’t go alone.” Takeru stopped her, grabbing a forearm. Hikari turned to him, giving a watery smile.

“Takeru-kun...you have to go help Onii-chan and Yamato-san. I can’t let anything happen to them either, and they don’t have Angewomon like I do.”

Takeru looked like he wanted to argue more, but he flinched and looked to the side. “Nii-san might be...”

“They’re okay.” Hikari took Takeru’s face in her hands. “Protect them for me.”

Takeru nodded and let her go chasing after Miyako.

“Miyako-chan!” Hikari shouted as she ran for the relative safety of the awning Miyako was currently under.

“What are you doing? You should be with Takeru-kun.”

“I should be with  _ you _ !” Hikari blinked as wind rushed past, blowing black sandy particles around them. “We need more power if we’re going to take the fight to the Dark Ocean. Let’s Jogress.”

“What? We can’t do that, we’d have to go down an evolution -“

“No! I know we’re compatible, Miyako-chan.”

Miyako blushed, her pointy cheekbones dusted red. “You don’t need me.”

“That’s not true. I need you more than anyone in the world, Miyako-chan. I need you right now.”

“But you shouldn’t.” Miyako looked up at where Hippogriffomon fought alongside Angewomon. Hikari wasn’t going to let her hide from this.

“You’re being ridiculous, Miyako-chan.”

“Think about it! Taichi and Yamato took forever to get together, but now they’re practically married! Daisuke and Ken practically  _ make out _ to Jogress. You don’t need  _ me _ for that.”

Hikari clenched her fists. “You idiot!”

The awning they were hiding under tore out of its holdings, flying into the chaotic air. Hikari grabbed Miyako’s wrist and ran across the broken street, ducking into a tchotchke shop.

Inside was so much quieter than out. The two of them stood together, both just breathing. Finally, Miyako spoke.

“Am I wrong, though? Jogress is...special, and beautiful, and you deserve a better partner for it than me.”

“Idiot!” Hikari repeated, tears flowing down her cheeks. “You don’t see? You don’t know how I feel? I want you to know! I want to be able to hear it without talking, to just  _ know _ things and have you in my heart all the time!”

Miyako’s back hit the wall as Hikari shoved her up against it.

“You want to have...a Jogress bond? With me?”

“Of course I do! I love you!”

Miyako blinked, then smiled. She started crying too, both of them weeping together.

“Hikari-chan, I - I love you too. But this is the  _ worst _ time for a confession.”

Hikari pulled Miyako down by her lapels into a kiss, her heart in her throat, beating, beating, more and more until she realized why it felt so strong.

There were two. Two exactly synchronized thumps reverberating through her. So this is what Ken meant.

Miyako’s hand tangled in her short hair, and she clung tighter around her middle. When Miyako’s tongue flicked out, Hikari felt her apprehension and adrenaline and  _ joy _ .

Light surrounded them, Hikari’s light and Miyako’s passion. She felt as Angewomon found Hippogriffomon in the air outside, the two dancing around each other and together as they merged, a halo erupting in the sky.

Valdurmon landed on the building they were huddled in, having to straddle the one next to it as well from sheer size. Their six wings sent out a ring that touched the crack in the sky and pushed it back, bringing color back into a swathe of the world.

* * *

The massive pillar of light in the distance blinded Daisuke. He threw his hand up to block some, squinting to see what was up.

A gigantic dragon materialized out of the pink-white light. More light emanated out of it and destroyed every shadow creature it touched. 

“That’s Valdurmon!” XV-mon covered Daisuke with one hand to block some debris. “Where did they come from?”

Daisuke had a hunch about who had evolved to this higher form, it reminded him of a pink dragon he saw once a long time ago in a field of flowers. He swooped down on XV-mon, searching the ground around the giant bird’s huge talons.

“Hikari-chan!” Daisuke shouted, his voice swallowed by the air currents all around him. XV-mon hit the ground, and the two of them continued on foot, fighting against the gale forces coming from the six wings above them.

Valdurmon swiveled their long neck towards the two of them, one oversized eye going wide.

“Daisuke?” Valdurmon controlled the air currents, giving them a path inside the building they were perched atop.

XV-mon glowed and popped down to V-mon as Daisuke ran into the building, directly into Hikari and Miyako, glommed together in a tight hug. He fell to the ground.

“Hikari-chan! Miyako! Thank goodness!”

“What happened, Daisuke?” Hikari held her hand out and Daisuke grasped it, hauling to his feet.

“I...I went to the Ocean.”

“What the fuck do you mean, the ocean?”

Daisuke gulped. “I went to find Ken. I kinda...opened the gate? Up there?”

He pointed into the sky, raining with darkness, and Miyako slapped him.

“ _ You _ did this? How  _ could _ you?”

“Well it wasn’t like anybody else was doing anything to help me save Ken! I have to save him, I always have to save him all on my own!”

“Dumbass! I can’t believe you - we’re all trying to help, and you’ve just gone and made it worse for Hikari-chan!”

Daisuke growled and thrust his face into Miyako’s. “Help? Where was it, huh? You gonna help me now, then?”

“Yes, we will.” Hikari stepped between the two of them, breaking their glares and pushing both back a step. “Let’s calm down and listen to what happened to Daisuke-kun.”

Daisuke watched as Hikari caressed Miyako’s face, and Miyako broke into a dopey smile. He desperately wanted to ask what was going on there. Later.

The three of them found some chairs and sat, protected for a bit in the bubble of light provided by Valdurmon.

“Start from when you left the room, please, Daisuke-kun.”

“Okay, uh, I. You gotta understand, I  _ had _ to find Ken. I’m only back now because - I need - maybe Iori?”

“Why do you need Iori?”

“Because Ken is  _ under _ the ocean! Demon said he’d been taken by Dagomon, and is down there, and I need some aquatic help!”

Hikari had turned whiter than usual, staring at her hands as Miyako blanched.

“Wait, did you just say  _ Demon _ ? Said something?”

“He - he talked to me, yeah.”

“What did he  _ say _ ?”

“I just told you! Ken’s  _ in _ the Dark Ocean and I have to figure out how to get down there and help him!”

Hikari put her hands up, bit her lip. “Ken-kun...was taken to these shadow creatures’ master? Under the water?”

“Demon said some weird shit about how Ken was having to worship Dagomon, can we please figure out how to stop him?”

Hikari wretched, making a beeline for the nearest trash can. She continued to dry heave on nothing as Miyako jumped up too, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

“What does it mean, Hikari-chan?” Daisuke could feel something in the back of his mind, trying to click together.

Miyako gave him a harsh glare. “Don’t be obtuse, Daisuke.”

“I’m not! Just  _ tell _ me what’s so bad -“

The last piece clicked. Hikari had almost been taken, dragged under the waves before. Turned into a “bride” to be used by the creatures of the Ocean. Demon had called Ken Dagomon’s “new bride”. Worship was - Ken was being -

Daisuke threw up too.

He laid sprawled on the shop floor, staring at the ceiling. V-mon and Wormmon were cuddled into his sides, trying to knock him out of this.

Ken was trapped under the waves, and Daisuke had no clue how to get to him. He’d failed. Again. Daisuke had promised he would keep Ken safe, and he’d  _ failed _ .

Hikari and Miyako hovered over him, twin looks of worry in their furrowed brows. Daisuke couldn’t move his arms, just looked into their eyes with a vacant face.

“We can figure it out, Daisuke. C’mon.” Miyako thrust her hand down, but Daisuke couldn’t even take her help up.

He was failing Ken every second he wasn’t chasing him, figuring out how to break into Dagomon’s domain. He took a deep breath in and out and grabbed Miyako’s hand, accepting the help up.

Miyako maneuvered him with far more gentleness than he was used to from her, set him back in the chair. She and Hikari locked eyes and made a bunch of faces at each other without saying anything out loud. What was going on with those two? He reached out and recoiled from the rip in his soul, hoping the pain he felt quivering along it was in his imagination. Hoping he could give Ken any comfort, he wouldn’t have to go through this alone.

“We have an idea, Daisuke-kun.” Hikari grasped the backrest on her chair, her fingers clenched like claws.

“We’re going to the Dark Ocean with you this time. Let’s end Dagomon, and Demon, for good.”

Daisuke’s jaw dropped. “ _ You _ want to...destroy them?” He pointed at Miyako.

“We should have a long time ago.” Miyako flicked her gaze up. “We’ll go get Ken-kun, okay?”

Daisuke jumped up. “I’m coming with you!”

“Of course you are.” Hikari’s look was too close to pity for Daisuke’s comfort.

He had to save Ken, had to believe it wasn’t too late. Daisuke could still save him, at least get him out of the pain he was currently in. He had to be the one to get him out.

* * *

Ken floated, certain that he didn’t even have a body anymore. He was a ghost, he’d drowned long ago and was just waiting for it to catch up to his spirit. Dagomon let him go, float freely in the water all around him, inside his lungs and he choked on nothing.

“You should be gravid by now.” Dagomon’s words cut through him.

He couldn’t. He didn’t want to.

Dagomon shifted, some of his appendages dipping down into the dark Ken couldn’t see anything in. “I supposed I could  _ check _ Demon’s claim.”

The tentacles pulled a middle-aged woman with brown hair that looked almost like straw out of the darkness. Ken thought he might have seen her face before, but couldn’t place it.

Then they grabbed Ken’s wrists in the same way they held the woman’s, holding him up. Dagomon turned them towards its face, some of the tentacles hanging down from there reaching out and touching Ken’s abdomen, prodding at his hips. Ken shrinked away, to no avail.

“The Agent of Chaos does appear to have something inside it that you don’t. Humans are so...inefficient.”

More and more of Dagomon circled Ken’s lower body, tying his legs together and covering every inch of his skin.

“I shall have to make you one myself.”

Pain shot through Ken. Pain worse than anything he’d felt before, he could  _ feel _ as his organs were forcibly rearranged, his abdomen expanded, his perineum knifed open. The appendages twisted around his thighs, pulling him apart. Ken struggled, tried to keep his legs together, but to no avail. His muscles burned as he tried to fight.  His body wasn't his own, the muscles and bones themselves invaded by darkness.

Dagomon pushed inside the new hole he’d made and more pain bloomed, Ken screamed, turned upside-down -

Dagomon pushed up against something tight in Ken, and then pushed  _ inside _ , why did it hurt so much worse than before -

This time, when Dagomon came, Ken knew it had gotten what it wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to Die.
> 
> Sorry everybody
> 
> Also plz ignore that I upped the chapter count AGAIN!!! What is UP with this ending. (What is up is that my outline, incredibly, had one line for all of this)
> 
> Sorry this took eight years to get out daiken week really owned me. Also crest soul gems AU. It's taken over my brain


	12. Children’s Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are parts of this I like and parts I Hate and parts I don’t know what to do to fix or make me like it more. But more importantly than any of that, the whole thing together is Done. And I’m Done Looking At It.

Valdurmon was a sight to behold as it cut through the shadows all around them. Their wings arced through the air, slapping the assaulting creatures down before they even reached the ground. Daisuke couldn’t help but stare in awe at the sheer light and power, Hikari and Miyako standing beside him with their hands clasped together, so close together.  
“So this is....Hawkmon and Tailmon?”  
Miyako nodded, the ghost of a smile and pride in her voice. “We Jogressed.”  
Daisuke watched as Hikari leaned into Miyako’s side, and felt an ache in his chest. He watched as Miyako tucked Hikari’s hair behind her ear, laying a hand over her heart, and his own jumped into his throat.  
The hole in his chest gnawed at him, and his whole body tensed. “Let’s go.”  
The three of them made their way to Valdurmon, and Daisuke jumped onto them with V-mon and Wormmon in tow. He realized as Miyako was helping Hikari up that he hadn’t gotten to what Demon had actually said, what he wanted.  
“Uh, hey, wait guys.”  
Two sets of eyes in perfect sync looked at him.  
“Look, when we get over there - Demon is gonna come after us. Immediately. For Hikari.”  
No reaction. After several seconds, Hikari sighed.  
“I know.”  
“I’ll protect Hikari-chan.” Miyako nodded at Daisuke.  
Valdurmon flapped their wings as soon as Miyako crossed from land to their giant talon, Daisuke clutching the other one with Miyako and Hikari clinging to each other as much as Valdurmon’s strong legs. Daisuke felt little dark bits of satisfaction from the destruction of the creatures that took Ken, flying closer and closer to the tear in the sky and taking out larger and larger swathes of the enemy. He chanced a glance to his companions, wanting to feel happy for them but only feeling despair that Ken wasn’t also in his arms like Hikari was being held, the light of their love overwhelming and holding back the darkness until they finally breached it.  
The world outside their bubble remained a dull, lifeless grey, too quiet and Wrong. The ocean below churned, too slow, and Daisuke searched the flat expanse desperately for some place to get down to Ken at. The cold breeze Daisuke shivered at less than an hour ago was missing in their bright halo, extending in every direction and pushing the world back. Even the beach shuddered in a vain attempt to get away from their landing party as they approached, the blackest flecks completely repelled away from their bubble of safety. Daisuke scanned the beach for Demon, throwing himself off Valdurmon’s talon and in front of Hikari when he spotted a billowing robe in the distance.  
“You’ve brought something fundamentally opposed to this world.” Demon flowed over the sand, stopping several meters back from Valdurmon’s sphere of influence. “Now be a good boy and girls and drop this evolution.”  
Despite everything, Daisuke laughed. Demon actually thought they were stupid enough to do that? He thought they were actually going to take his dumb ‘trade’?  
Miyako vocalized it. “Yeah, you’re never getting Hikari-chan. You’re a moron.”  
“I’d hoped to avoid a fight, since Dagomon likes its brides untouched, but if you insist...”  
Demon grew taller and taller, expanding up but not out as if he was being stretched out from heel to toe, until Daisuke could only see his wine red robes and bright pinpricks staring down at them. Black flames exploded out of his hands, circling the entire periphery, and Valdurmon took to the sky, Daisuke barely managing to latch back onto their leg as the flames engulfed where he’d just been standing.  
Daisuke held on for dear life as they twisted and turned in the air to avoid Demon’s continued assault, stomach twisting. Miyako was shouting at him, he couldn’t hear a thing over the rush of the wind, their bubble separating them from the oppressive silence of the Ocean. The edge of light wavered, refusing to give and pop, expanding outward as the girls shouted their encouragement.  
Valdurmon ducked them behind a rocky outcropping, letting the humans off before returning to the fray.  
Daisuke stared over the horizon, desperate to get out there. If he had to just start swimming to find Ken, he would. But until Demon was gone, Hikari was in danger of being Taken just like he had been. He looked over at them just as Miyako began rubbing her hand up and down Hikari’s spine.  
“Hikari-chan -“  
“Don’t worry about me, Daisuke-kun.” Hikari didn’t even look at him, just smiling up at Miyako as she squeezed her bicep. “I’ll be fine.” Her face snapped in his direction, intense eyes boring holes. “Go get him.”  
Daisuke hesitated. It felt like abandonment, failing yet again. Miyako sighed dramatically, throwing her hands up. “Your _chance_ to get down there is when Dagomon notices we’re here, you gotta get behind him and take it!”  
That got Daisuke moving. Wormmon held on to his back as he and XV-mon flew over the ocean, on the lookout. He kept glancing back, but Valdurmon was holding their own against Demon. Not able to defeat him, just like all those years ago, but keeping Hikari and Miyako safe. They would need help to finish the job.  
Ken _had_ to come back into his heart. He _had_ to be okay, and quite possibly immediately up for fighting. Daisuke would make sure of it.  
The water a little ways away from him churned, spiky tendrils of pock-marked flesh poking out of the waves. _Something_ breached the surface, angles that made Daisuke’s head hurt sending flowing rivulets of water off the surface of the shadowy shape, tentacles lashing out and propelling forward toward the beach.  
Demon’s laugh shook him to the core, but Ken was down there, where that _thing_ that must be Dagomon emerged from. He _knew_ it, felt it just as real as his own shaking hands and pounding heart.  
Ken was down there in the depths, and Daisuke was going to get him out.  
He jumped off XV-mon and dived.  
The water instantly blackened everything when he splashed below the surface. It swirled around him, trying to seize and tear him apart, absorb itself into him. Daisuke bat it away as he swam down, not worrying about breathing, not worrying about anything but getting deeper, following the pull permeating his soul.   
He grabbed at the water, propelling himself down, closer, into the heart of the darkness, reaching out for Ken. He couldn’t see anything as he was buffeted by currents and turned around, wasn’t even sure he was going _down_ anymore.  
Daisuke would search this whole ocean, crawl through every inch of it if he had to, clenched his fists and kept going through the goop. Light started to come back, not around but inside Daisuke, arms glowing and slicing through whatever substance, sticky and wet, he was surrounded by until he cut through to a hollowed-out cave. He fell into the wide, open space from the hole he’d sliced through, instantly healed over as water flowed above and below and all around him, the entire room pulsing.  
And in the center, held by shadows, was Ken.  
Daisuke sobbed in relief, rushing over and embracing him. He felt the tiny weight of Wormmon jump off his shoulders and onto Ken’s head. His eyes opened, glassy and unfocused, not even seeing him.  
“Ken. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Daisuke tightened his hold, feeling warmth running down his face. He swiped at it, coming back with tears.  
The darkness holding Ken down convulsed and backed away from Daisuke as he continued to glow. Ken whimpered, grabbing hold of the hem of Daisuke’s shirt.  
“It hurts.”  
“I’m here now, it’s alright.”  
Ken sobbed, falling into Daisuke’s shoulder. “How will it ever be alright?”  
“I’ll make it alright.”  
Daisuke surveyed the prison as Ken continued to sob against him, rubbing up and down his arm as comfortingly as possible. The ocean looked foreboding, like it could crash in on them at any second. They’d have to swim through, up and up without knowing how far away the surface was. He tightened his grip, willing some of his strength into Ken.  
He shouldn’t have to push himself. Ever again. Daisuke was going to make sure they got out and lock Ken away - No. He couldn’t be just like the darkness that hurt him.  
“If Wormmon evolves -“  
“I can’t.” Ken tucked his legs into his bare chest.  
“It’s okay. I brought your phone.” Daisuke fished the black and purple device out of his pocket, placing it gently into Ken’s completely limp hand.  
Ken stared at the screen, turning it over the back and running his thumb over the crest of kindness etched in the middle.  
“It won’t work.”  
“What are you talking about? It’s just getting to Stingmon, and then when we’re back above the water, that’s where V-mon is, I can _feel_ you again.”  
Daisuke gripped Ken’s face, watching as it went completely blank, his eyes broken and lost.  
“I’ve been running from this for so long. Look at it.” He lifted his phone about a centimeter before giving up, his arm collapsing against his knees. “Everybody else has their crest color. Mine is black. Koushiro-san couldn’t fix it.”  
“It’s not broken!”  
“It’s been broken since I put it in this water. Nothing anyone does can fix it. Especially not now.”  
They weren’t talking about Ken’s digivice. Daisuke took a deep breath, trying to stay focused on Ken’s face and not the obvious bruises covering his arms and around his dirty thighs that made him sick.  
“You aren’t broken.”  
Ken looked up at him, sitting on his haunches and sinking into wet he refused to think about. Ken had been fighting all this darkness for so long, and all Daisuke could do some days was sit beside him and watch, but he’d never let him go.  
“I’m tired.”  
“I know.” Daisuke wiped at Ken’s face, smoothing away some of the grey gunk. “But I'm here for you. And I won’t let you give up.”  
The tears started flowing, and Daisuke collected them too, cleaning Ken’s face as best he could, until the front of his shirt was covered completely in salty wet spots and grey. Ken hiccuped as he tried to speak more, grabbing at Daisuke’s sides.  
“It’s inside me. The Dark Seed, its. A _part_ of me, I was dealing with that, accepting and moving on. But I don’t know if I can from. This.”  
“You’re so much stronger than you think, Ken. And you won’t be alone. Whatever it did to you, I can help you figure it out, we can move on. Together.”  
“Daisuke, I...” Ken hesitated, unable to say those last few words. He didn’t have to say them.  
“Let’s get out of here. We can talk about and fix it together, whenever you’re ready.”  
“ _How_?”  
“I’ll...figure something out.”  
Saying and doing were two different things. This was the heart of the Dark Ocean. Daisuke wanted nothing more than to tear it apart, but V-mon hadn’t followed him in. That had been stupid.  
He also refused to let Ken go, not now that he’d found him. At least for now, he gave in to that desire, clung to him like a lifeline. Scrambling to feel Ken’s heart, his thoughts and feelings again. To fall back into sync, be able to hold some of Ken’s pain for him.  
“...I believe you.” Ken was so quiet Daisuke barely heard him despite the scary quiet. “My...miracle.”  
Daisuke took out his own phone, noticing a faint glow coming from it. He turned it over and in between the crests of courage and friendship that contained the power of his digimentals was a third crest, a bright gold that suddenly shot up into the ceiling. The ocean was pushed out all around it and Daisuke’s hair started floating, then his whole body. He picked up Ken bridal style, Wormmon in his lap.  
Ken held onto his neck, so ridiculously light in his arms, settling into his chest and seeking out that heartbeat that had been ripped from him.  
“You always manage this. I wish I could be as strong as you.” Ken closed his eyes as they floated up, specks of glowing gold all around them, looking alive again for the first time since Daisuke found him.  
“You’re much stronger than me. But you can have my strength any time you need.”  
When Daisuke felt Ken’s absolutely pouring love, bolstering them and making the power all around them even brighter, he started crying too. Their hearts beat out a syncopated tune, chasing each other until they fell into perfect sync once again.

* * *

Miyako felt her stomach clench as Hikari watched Daisuke _jump into_ the water, grabbing her hand. She led her around the back of the rock, trying her best to hide Hikari from the gigantic shadow that had just floated out of the water.  
Valdurmon did their best to ward off Demon’s attacks, but it was not looking good. Demon was just as strong as ten years ago, and not even Imperialdramon had gotten in a good shot then.  
And now they had to fight two-on-one.  
She could feel herself spiraling into despair. They couldn’t afford that. Hikari gently turned her face in her direction.  
“You wouldn’t give up so soon, would you?”  
No.  
Valdurmon managed to escape a grab from Demon’s one freakishly long arm as they shied away from their light, only to be hit from behind by lashing tentacles. Miyako hissed at the phantom pain in her own body, Valdurmon hitting the sand hard.  
They could only watch as Demon grew their grotesque claws even larger until they could wrap around Valdurmon’s long neck, holding them up.  
“You’ve failed.”  
“Not yet!” XV-mon flew in, bashing at the juncture of Demon’s wrist. He faltered, just enough.  
Valdurmon use their newfound freedom to launch an attack at Dagomon, who actually backed off and recoiled. It couldn’t stand the Light.  
“That’s it! Keep going -“  
But without the constant vigilance of their Digimon, Demon stuck their claws into the sand all around Hikari and Miyako, scooping them up into a makeshift cage, and this time XV-mon didn’t have the element of surprise as they tried to help.  
They went down like Demon was swiping at a mosquito, forced back to V-mon in a small crater on the sand. Valdurmon floated in the air, frozen by indecision.  
Demon turned to Dagomon, brandishing his prizes. “Now, give me Ichijouji Ken.”  
“No.”  
“No? I _helped_ you! I opened the tears, I found where they were!”  
“You did nothing. My children were the ones that sought out and sacrificed for the next generation to live. The digital chosen themselves found a way to come to me. You can tell Millenniummon I do not care, its toy is mine now and it can come for me if it ever returns.”  
Miyako was fairly certain Demon was going to crush them both, his hand tightening around them. She clung to Hikari and pulled her into one last kiss.  
Dying wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. The first rush of air, the sensation of falling, and then a comfortable bed of feathers, all with Hikari’s soft lips glued to hers.  
When she opened her eyes, Valdurmon’s plumage was all around her, Hikari on top, and she looked out to see Demon and Dagomon wrapped around each other, smaller shadowy creatures jumping up from the water and attempting to grab Demon where he floated above them.  
Not being dead was good.  
Not having to fight both gigantic evils working together was good.  
Suddenly remembering, she peeked over the cliff and sought V-mon out.  
They were limping as they got out of the range of battle. That was also good. Moving was good.  
If she said it enough she’d convince herself.  
Hikari’s small hands landed on her shoulders, pulling her away from the edge. “Just a little more. We can do this, together.”  
Hikari’s quiet faith pulsed through her. They had to believe that Daisuke could do something amazing, pull off something none of them had even considered.  
That he hadn’t just been crushed beneath the waves.  
In the little bay, cut out by the cliff they were resting on and a jagged edge of rock on the other side, Demon continued their assault. It was clear who was the superior fighter, but this was Dagomon’s world, and that much was obvious with the way it morphed and fought back along with its master.  
If they did enough damage to each other, maybe Valdurmon could land the finishing blow on whoever was the winner. No, no maybe. They would.  
As Dagomon swung some kind of giant squiggling appendage like a whip -  
A pillar of light erupted out of the sea, right where Daisuke had disappeared. Miyako gasped as an outline started to rise out of it, Daisuke’s distinctive fluff of hair holding another person in their arms.  
Demon, unfortunately, also saw this. They turned away from Dagomon and reached towards Daisuke, the same move they’d just pulled on Miyako and Hikari.  
It didn’t connect. The light arced out, caught Demon’s claws and actually managing to push them back. Golden rays erupted all around them, Demon cringing away from the assault.  
Miyako breathed a sigh of relief. Daisuke was back.

* * *

Nothing could stop his inexorable march toward the beach. He cradled Ken close to his chest, high off of his mere existence.  
Something was still there. Dark and deep and _wrong_ curled up in the deepest recesses of Ken’s psyche. Daisuke could unwind him later. For now, he walked on the golden air, towards where he saw V-mon waving their little blue arms.  
It was time to finish this. To wipe out the darkness stalking his Ken for good, so he could move on and heal in peace. So they could reach the future together.  
“V-mon.” He stepped onto the beach without touching the sand, the darkness of this world unable to touch him.  
“Daisuke!”  
“Let’s protect our partners.”  
V-mon jumped into the pillar of light all around Daisuke, pulled above them and surrounded by strings of light, coming out of the evolution with familiar golden armor as Magnamon charged towards Demon.  
Daisuke realized as his focus shifted from the body in his arms to the battle that Dagomon was slipping away, slowly lowering back into the waves. That wouldn’t do.  
It didn't get to get away after what it did to Ken.  
It didn’t get to try this _again_.  
Ken shivered in his arms, tightened the grip on his neck. His fear and pain was palpable, and Daisuke sat, pulling Ken into his lap.  
“It’s okay now.”  
“It isn’t, it isn’t, it isn’t.” Ken kept repeating even as Magnamon attacked, their light taking big chunks out of the veil surrounding Dagomon.  
Without the shadows, Dagomon seemed smaller. Lesser. Not an insurmountable enemy, just a disgusting and sad thing.  
He barely noticed as Miyako and Hikari landed beside him and Valdurmon joined Magnamon. He was busy trying his best to soothe Ken, who had backslid into worry, would _not_ be convinced he was safe now.  
“Look at me. It’s Daisuke. I’ve got you.”  
Ken continued to make tracks on his face as tears filled his beautiful eyes. “Daisuke, I...”  
“Ken-kun has been through a lot.” Hikari’s hand squeezed his shoulder. “Let him deal with that.”  
But he’d made it okay. He’d _saved_ him. He couldn’t have been too late, he couldn’t.  
“You weren’t.” Ken crossed his legs as he buried his face in the crook of Daisuke’s neck. “I’m so glad you’re here. But there’s something...else.”  
“Tell me.”  
The dark thing inside of Ken unfurled just as Magnamon connected a solid hit with Dagomon’s bulbous head.  
“I’m - pregnant.”

  
Another hit connected in the battle, shaking Daisuke’s core.

  
Daisuke rebooted, shook his head in disbelief.  
“What does that even...”  
“I - it put something inside me.” Ken curled one hand away from Daisuke and around his own middle. “So much worse than the Dark Seed.”  
He would not get sick a second time. His hand spun, vaguely aware of the continuing fighting, the tide turning in their favor. He couldn’t get rid of the lump in his throat that none of that mattered with Ken like this.  
“Okay. Okay. But this _just happened_ , maybe we can take it out.”  
“ _Please_ take it out.”  
Ken’s mind screamed, held onto the thinnest wisp of hope.  
“I'm going to make sure you’re okay. It won’t be like last time.”  
Daisuke nudged Ken to look to the ocean, where Valdurmon and Magnamon had completely cornered Dagomon, landing the final blow as it dissolved into black seafoam just like the creature Miyako had destroyed.  
“See? It’s over.”   
That wasn’t entirely true. Demon still floated, far too big especially in comparison to Magnamon, seemingly just waiting and biding his time as he tanked all their attacks. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, push the Demon Problem to another day, let someone who wanted his Ken keep being out there. Always in danger, never knowing when they would come back.  
Daisuke felt, for the first time, like he _understood_ Takeru as Magnamon punched through Demon’s fire, finally breaking his shield and Valdurmon struck as well, the two sending him down into the sea.  
Daisuke gulped and really _looked_ at Ken, taking in the. Damage. The bruising and cuts were worrisome, but nothing a few days rest wouldn’t get rid of. He moved further down, where Ken’s whole lower half seemed to have been dipped in ink, and Ken recoiled with a shout when he pressed a hand to his abdomen.  
“What’s wrong?” Daisuke asked even though he _felt_ the reverberations of pain, failing to not hover over Ken as he covered his mouth with both hands, a fresh wave of tears starting.  
“It hurts.”  
“I think...it’s going to hurt more.”  
“I know.” Ken looked up into his eyes and grimaced. “I need you to do it.”  
“Do.... _what_?”  
“Burn it out.”  
Ken grabbed one of Daisuke’s still-glowing hands and placed it on his body, grimace deepening as the pain crescendoed. The darkness inside of Ken couldn’t exist alongside the Light, and Daisuke was a concentrated laser right now.  
Ken screamed through it, Daisuke’s light penetrating him, pulled him down into a desperate kiss. Pain slowly ebbed away, replaced by pleasure from Daisuke’s lips and hand pushing into and holding him.  
He wasn’t what had happened to him, had the power to take his body and soul back from the darkness trying to ruin him.  
Daisuke moved along his closed lips, poured endless love and adoration into Ken, enough to drown out that voice that told Ken he didn’t deserve it, he was too broken and messed up to be _loved_.  
It would always be with him, but at least he could quiet it sometimes.  
Daisuke cradled Ken as he relaxed, the adrenaline finally burning out. Ken’s mind fell into a fuzzy sleep, and Daisuke didn’t let go, carried him by himself even as Hikari and Miyako offered to help.  
“Thank you.” Daisuke blurted out in Miyako’s direction, and she just cocked her head to the side.  
“For what?”  
“Helping me find Ken. I - I couldn’t do it without you guys.”  
Miyako gave him a decidedly pitying look, but this time Daisuke felt like he needed it. “You don’t always have to do everything cool and brave on your own. And Ken is our friend too, even if he’s _your_ partner.”  
His Everything.  
Leaving the Dark Ocean was much easier than entering. The hole they’d originally gone through was nowhere to be seen, the sky repaired and no longer eating Okinawa, but an exit remained in the form of the shaft of light that followed Daisuke around.  
Daisuke felt Ken stiffen and shift in his arms as they crossed the threshold, clawing into his shirt. He pulled his arms tighter as he realized how very - naked Ken still was when they landed on the roof of their hotel.  
The residual darkness that had covered him was nowhere to be seen, dissolving away in the Real World like it had never been there.  
But it had.  
Takeru flew up in Holyangemon’s arms, looking particularly frazzled, his hat completely missing and hair in clumps.  
“What happened? I mean, you won, but are you okay?” He stumbled out of his digimon’s hold and toward Hikari, reaching to pull her into a hug.  
Hikari forced him around both her and Miyako. “Yes. Everyone is. As okay as we can be after that.”  
“I’ll tell everyone.” Takeru began chattering into his earpiece, and soon all the Chosen were headed their way. He had to get out of here, at least get Ken something to cover. He’d be mortified, or maybe it wouldn’t matter anymore. Not after everything else.  
Mimi burst through the roof access door first, carrying a ton of supplies that looked new. When she surveyed the scene, she immediately pulled out a lovely blanket and handed it to Daisuke.  
Daisuke mumbled out a quick “Thanks” as he wrapped the nice, clean thing around Ken. He almost looked normal, if definitely exhausted. Daisuke had. Done it.   
At least physically.  
Mimi, bless her, knew to give him some space. She sat quietly beside him, and provided a loud buffer for the rest of the Chosen as they reacted with sighs of relief at the sight of Ken, not letting anyone but Daisuke touch him.  
“Tell us everything,” Taichi demanded as he stared with wide eyes at Valdurmon, towering above them all.  
“Well...” Hikari blushed, twirling her index finger through her bangs, refusing to meet her brother’s eyes. “Miyako and I...are together now.”  
“Really?”  
“That’s great!”  
“Hmm, that’s interesting.” Koushiro interrupted the continuing congratulations with a look. “That makes three of our four Jogress pairs...”  
His pointed look toward Iori and Takeru, just standing next to each other, said it all.  
“No.” Iori raised a thick eyebrow in Takeru’s direction. “Absolutely not.”  
Takeru folded his arms, his lips crooked up in a cocky smirk. “Am I not hot enough for you?”  
Daisuke excused himself, and Ken by extension, once everyone saw that they were both okay. He laid Ken on their bed and waited for him to wake up again, holding onto their connection like a vise.


End file.
